All-NBA LA First Team:
G Lou Williams, G Paul George, F Kawhi Leonard, F LeBron James, C Anthony Davis
The All-NBA of LA First Team wasn’t tricky to create. Los Angeles is comprised of four of the league’s top ten players, who are real-life All-NBA First Team candidates, with a few being locks.
Specifically, Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis are all near-guarantees to make the real-life All-NBA First Team this season. That’s significant because two of those guys play for the Purple and Gold. Paul George is one of the league’s best players and probably an All-NBA Second Team candidate, but that makes a difference in impacting what is already such a competitive set of rosters in Los Angeles.
Davis, James, Leonard, and George are no-brainers in making it onto the All-NBA LA First Team. Where the Clippers hold a significant advantage though, is with Lou Williams. The guard depth for the Lakers is as weak as can be on the offensive end, but defensively might be enough to contain Lou-Will.
If they can’t however, the Lakers will be in big trouble. While Kuzma continues to get better, he’s a drop-off from Williams. The Clippers take the slight edge over the Lakers on this team because Williams was able to secure the final roster spot without much competition. The dynamic duo’s in Los Angeles are what should ultimately decide the better team. James is aging and George is working his way back from a torn rotator cuff injury. Davis, Leonard and George are all in the prime of their careers but James has the most winning experience and will want to prove once again that he is still the league’s best player.
It’s difficult to declare which is the better roster between the two, as they are both so extremely close to one another. But as of right now, the Clippers have a slight edge over the Lakers in terms of overall talent. With the Lakers adding Dwight Howard, it’ll be interesting to see how big of an impact he can have. If they can add Andre Iguodala to the roster, the Purple and Gold would likely take the slight edge as the team between the two with the more talented roster.