Los Angeles Lakers: 3 things to keep an eye on once the NBA resumes

We will be watching the Los Angeles Lakers with a keen eye once the season resumes.

The NBA officially announced its plan to return to action at Disney World in Orlando, Florida on Thursday. The season will officially resume on July 31 and will include 22 of the 30 NBA teams, with the qualifications being that a team had to be within six games of the eighth seed in their respective conference.

Nine of the teams are from the Eastern Conference and 13 are from the Western Conference. If the ninth seed is within four games of the eighth seed as well then they will enter a play-in tournament, which essentially requires the ninth seed to beat the eighth seed in two consecutive games whereas the eighth seed only needs to win one.

There will be eight regular-season games prior to the playoffs starting, which not only allows for teams on the bubble to make a playoff push but to get the entire league somewhat up to speed with live NBA games.

This is important for the Los Angeles Lakers, as jumping straight into the playoffs without a chance to get up to speed could cause so many variables that could hurt the team and essentially waste a great season.

They won’t get completely up to speed in just eight games, but with training camp, it is a good start to ensure that there will be quality basketball and fewer variables.

These eight games represent more than just an opportunity to get back into game shape, though, as we are going to learn some things about the Los Angeles Lakers in the process. Here are the eighth things that I would keep a keen eye on as it will impact the playoffs.