5. Analysis
The Lakers are contenders as they have a roster built to win now. The question is whether they will put all the pieces together and be able to turn what’s on paper into results on the court. As mentioned sometimes that works seamlessly and other times it doesn’t work out, we’ve seen it many times before in all sports not just basketball.
The Clippers are stacked, the Warriors will get Klay Thompson back and added D’Angelo Russell. The Utah Jazz added Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanović. The Rockets added Russell Westbrook to run with James Harden. As always, the West is loaded, and the Lakers will need to navigate a tough schedule to get to their ultimate goal.
That’s not including the East, who if they made it through the West, would have to face the Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, Brooklyn Nets or another team. The NBA is star-studded and guys are joining up in pairs to try and get a ring, the Lakers have their duo that’s good enough to lead them.
Other guys will have to produce to make this team win a championship. One thing they need is to stay healthy and that starts with managing minutes. These guys can’t be playing 40 minutes per night anymore and play 75-80 games, that’s just not being smart.
If the Lakers can put that all together and be 100% healthy in April, you can never count out a team led by LeBron James.
Now with the roster built around him, it’s time for him to go chase that fourth ring as his career is starting to dwindle down into the twilight. There will be no better opportunity than right now.