2. The Brooklyn Nets will be healthy
Say what you want about Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant but they are two of the best players at their positions in the league and them both being healthy is going to create a really tough team to defeat.
While the Bucks are steam-rolling the rest of the Eastern Conference this season, the Nets will be a formidable foe and very well could be the best team in the East next season. After getting through the gauntlet of the Western Conference, the Lakers very well might have to face the guy who has gone toe-to-toe with LeBron in the Finals and has been better.
Granted, this only really applies if the Lakers make it to the NBA Finals but I do think that a healthy Nets team is a tougher matchup for the Lakers than the Bucks. While the Lakers have Anthony Davis to guard Durant, I do not love the matchup of putting Danny Green on Kyrie Irving.
Plus, the Nets have one of the best supporting casts in the league. Spencer Dinwiddie is as good as they come as a bench guard and Caris LeVert is a great third scoring option that could be the guy that swings the series.
They have a veteran in DeAndre Jordan that can match up with the Lakers’ bigs. The team even has the flexibility with the contracts already on the team to pursue a third star if the right trade develops on the market.
I would rather face the Bucks than the Nets. Giannis Antetokounmpo is a freak but teams have had success in limiting him in the past in a seven-game series and I think it would be easier to adapt to the Bucks in seven games than the Nets.