Los Angeles Lakers Preseason: What to look for in opener

The Los Angeles Lakers will kick off their preseason with a game against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night.

Breaking news Los Angeles Lakers fans!!!…The Lakers play tonight. All the speculation articles that have flooded the internet will slow down a little (spoiler alert…they never stop) and what you read now will be based on the court. The Los Angeles Lakers take on the Denver Nuggets tonight for the start of their preseason at 9:30 pm est. Look to Lake Show Life as your first stop shop for Lakers news, previews and reviews.

The Lakers news this offseason has been about LeBron James’ contract, the free agents around him and how all of this will come together. It will take time (Few can be taken serious until at least game 25) for everyone to get a good handle of the progress of the roster, so let’s deal with tonight shall we? Here are some questions the Los Angeles Lakers have to answer tonight…

How long will LeBron James play?

This isn’t even a question to ask. I’m only putting it out there because every Lakers fan will ask. With sports betting, Vegas will even weigh in. Here we go…

If the Lakers play LeBron James more than 20 minutes, somebody needs to be fired. Give him enough floor time to let the paying fans get a chance to see him and sit him down. One ankle turn or hamstring pull and the Lakers are one step to the lottery. They need James healthy for October…That’s it, end of story.

What kind of offense will the Los Angeles Lakers run?

According to what Nick Zeigler laid out in his column…

The Lakers plan to play positionless basketball.

So? What does that mean? As you can see above, the Lakers have built a roster that can play multiple positions. Great, but that does not mean that there is a concrete system put together for these players. A goal without a plan ain’t nothing but a wish. Every team states that they want to run and this team is included the list. But there are more aspects to a running team than saying…”I want to run”. Even Showtime had a method to it’s madness.

As wild as the Rockets seem, Mike D’Antoni has three different sections of his offense and runs it into the ground and reacts to the defense. Golden State just doesn’t roll the ball out and say do something. Watch and see the offense that the Lakers use as their structure and how it grows from there based on the personnel. There’s a reason why there’s no set rotation, we haven’t seen the offense yet.

Who’s playing the four and five on the back line?

Positionless basketball is nice to talk about, but the NBA is about matchups. The Nuggets have a advantage already on the backline on offense and defense with Paul Millsap and Nikola Jokic. It will be interesting to see how the Lakers deal with these two. Millsap is a player folks. Denver would have been a higher seed last year, if Millsap doesn’t get injured. He’s a strong low post player that can make plays for his teammates. Jokic has gotten better every year and he is prepped to make major noise. Lakers fans will have a good idea on what will happen by way of rim protection and low post defense by seeing how these two are handled.

The word around the campfire is that LeBron James will see time at the power forward spot and center at times this year. We’ll see. Paul Millsap represents some of the power forwards James will be banging up against this year. What fans need to notice is how will James deal with the physicality and how will it affect his game on the offensive end.

Can the Los Angeles Lakers rebound?

Teams can’t run if they can’t finish the play on the defensive end with a rebound. Looking at the roster, it looks like the mission statement will be all hands on deck to grab rebounds. Small ball is the rage, but for this to work guards have to be ready to rebound as well. Rajon Rondo, Kyle Kuzma and eventually Lonzo Ball (not playing tonight) will have to be disciplined enough to clean up the rebounds especially with the big guys sacrificing their bodies to block out.

Will Brandon Ingram figure out the NBA game?

Forget LeBron James, Rondo, Lonzo Ball and the others. They are vital but Brandon Ingram has to know that he is the key ingredient to the Lakers success. Disagree if you want, but you will see about 30 games into the regular season. He has the highest upside and he has the talent to get his own shot. Figuring out the game is not about talent, it’s about the neck up. Brandon Ingram has to be ready to build on taking his place as the second option. LeBron James is now, but Ingram is the future, at least until the next big time free agent shows up.

Will Lance play?

You will find out that I am a Lance Stephenson fan. Granted he is let’s say different, but believe it or not, the Lakers need him more than most realize. Every team needs that live wire that brings the energy and gets 50-50 balls. Stephenson is that guy. If you think I’m crazy, anybody remember that Metta World Peace signing? How’d that work out?

Look for a post game report after the game. Leave comments below. Lake Show Life is about you, the Los Angeles Lakers fans. Let’s enjoy the journey together this season.