Lake Show Life
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This version of the Los Angeles Lakers is the next superteam

By Addam Goldman

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 25: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers guards Montrezl Harrell #5 of the Los Angeles Clippers in the game at Staples Center on December 25, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 25: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers guards Montrezl Harrell #5 of the Los Angeles Clippers in the game at Staples Center on December 25, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t just win the offseason. Rob Pelinka took a championship roster and doubled down on it, creating the next superteam.

What do you get when you combine the best duo in the NBA (LBJ and AD) with the two best bench players in the league last season (Dennis Schroder and Montrezl Harrell)?

You get the favorite to win the title.

Add in the best assortment of high-quality role players in the NBA (Alex Caruso, KCP, Kyle Kuzma, Wesley Matthews, Markieff Morris, and Marc Gasol), and you shift from title favorites to the next superteam.

The Purple and Gold are stacked from top to bottom, while the prime challengers for the Los Angeles Lakers‘ throne all have at least one hole in their roster.

The Clippers’ lack of a playmaker during last year’s playoffs clipped (pun intended) them in the back. They melted down against the Denver Nuggets in the second round of the playoffs and turned into a disjointed group of athletes taking turns jacking up contested jumpers.

After the Golden State Warriors took a gap-year, they appeared primed to challenge the Purple and Gold for the top spot in the west. Then Klay Thompson went down with an Achilles injury. Now the Warriors don’t have enough firepower to contend.

The Denver Nuggets somehow lost their best wing defender, Jerami Grant, to the Pistons (???). To fill the giant hole Grant left after he departed to Detroit, the Nuggets signed JaMychal Green to fill his shoes. Unless you think the little-used ex-Clipper is the answer to slowing down LeBron James, Denver doesn’t have a player on their roster who can guard “The King.”

The Bucks flipped Eric Bledsoe for Jrue Holiday, among other pieces. Jrue Holiday is an upgrade at the point guard position, but he hasn’t shot much better than Eric Bledsoe during his last two playoff runs.

Jrue Holiday

  • 2014-2015 playoffs: 25 3P%
  • 2017-2018 playoffs: 32 3P%

Bucks management brought in Holiday to help clear the lane for Giannis during the playoffs. Unless he makes drastic changes to his shooting stroke during the playoffs, he’ll be a taller iteration of Bledsoe.

The Miami Heat crashed the finals party last season, and they could find themselves back in the penultimate round again in 2021. If the Heat makes the finals for the second year in a row, Jimmy Butler and Bam Abedayo will find themselves trying to contain LBJ and AD, two players who play the same position as them but are better in every facet of the game.

An organization can’t win a playoff series when their top two players are a tier below their opponent’s best duo.

Next, we’ll look at the Lakers’ probable starting unit, bench squad, and closing lineup to determine how dominant this team should be next season.

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