KD And Kyrie Are Off-Limits:
The Los Angeles Lakers are positioned to win right now. Kevin Durant leaving the Golden State Warriors completely opens up the Western Conference by leveling out the playing field. This is great for the Lakers because they now have a legitimate chance, if not the best chance, of taking home the Larry O’Brien Trophy this season.
If the Lakers do indeed live up to their high expectations, they’ll want to sustain their advantage on the rest of the league. We’re learning now more than ever just how difficult that is, with star players teaming up with one another and forming so-called “Super Teams.” There’s no better way to prevent that than having arguably the best player in the world when healthy, and a top-five point guard in the league both under contract for multiple years. The Nets will be good, and maybe even the beast of the East at some point if Durant can get healthy, but I don’t see them as title contenders.
The Los Angeles Lakers benefit from having two of the top talents in the league under contract for the Nets. The Nets reside in Brooklyn, which means the Western Conference isn’t affected much by how they perform. More importantly, however, the talents of Durant and Irving joining the Nets who aren’t by any means a “Super Team”, makes the likelihood of newly formed “Super Teams” slim.