#4: Denver Nuggets
The next team that the Lakers should keep on their radar is the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets are a franchise that is on the rise and will be a team that will contend for titles for years to come. They are an extremely young team with a lot of depth.
They were the dark horse team of the 2019-2020 playoffs. They showed their grit and resiliency through their playoff run. The Nuggets were able to pull off 3-1 series comebacks against both the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Clippers.
While it was the Los Angeles Lakers who were the team to put an end to the Nugget’s historic run, they were still able to take the more talented Lakers to 5 games. However, with another year of young players like Michael Porter Jr. and Bol Bol able to progress their bench depth will become even more impressive.
Along with this, Jamal Murray put his name on the map during the playoffs and if he is able to continue his dominant run, he will be recognized as one of the best players in the NBA. Not to mention that the Nuggets have arguably the best and most versatile center in the NBA with Nikola Jokic.
With the Nuggets making a great draft-day trade that landed the team R.J. Hampton, they will arguably have the deepest team in the league. With the Nuggets continuing to bring in young talent through trades and skilled drafting, the Nuggets are a team that the Lakers should keep an eye on not only this coming season but for years to come.