2. High-Scoring Team
Last season the Lakers were 11th in the NBA in scoring with 108.1 points per game, a 3.5 PPG increase over the previous year. There is every reason to believe they will score more points this season.
Of course, it all starts with James. Even if he doesn’t focus quite as much his own scoring, instead opting to set up teammates & allowing them to develop, he still figures to average at or near 25 PPG.
To illustrate that and how the rest of the team should look, here’s a reprint of a chart we used before to project scoring averages this season for 11 players, showing minutes and points last year along with guestimates for this year:
Player(s) 2017-18 MPG ’17-18 PPG 2018-19 MPG ’18-19 PPG
James 37 27.5 32 25
Ingram 29 16.1 30 20
Kuzma 31 16.1 30 18
KCP/Hart 33/23 13.4/7.9 48 20
Ball/Rondo 34/26 10.2/8.3 30/18 15
Beasley 22 13.2 10 7
Stephenson 23 9.2 10 4
McGee/Zubac 9/10 4.8/3.7 16/16 7
On the chart, a few players in the same position were combined to get total production rather than individual breakdown. No player’s predicted scoring average is particularly optimistic or out of line. It could even be argued that the estimate is conservative for some. And no points have been credited to the rookies Svi and Wagner.
When you add the 2018-19 projected numbers together, they total 116 points per game. Last season Golden State was the league’s highest scoring team at 113.5 per game. Whether or not the Lakers outscore the Warriors this season, it certainly seems that LA should easily be among the league leaders in points.