The Los Angeles Lakers are looking to repeat as NBA Champions in 2021 and the front office has built quite the roster to go back-to-back. Rob Pelinka did an excellent job of pivoting from last year’s team and bringing in new talent to complement the existing talent that stuck around.
The results have been good thus far for the Lakers. The purple and gold are currently the third seed in the Western Conference with a 16-6 record — tied with the Los Angeles Clippers and just half a game behind the Utah Jazz.
While third place may not seem great and definitely is not up to the Lakers’ standards, the advanced numbers showcase that the Lakers are playing really good basketball. The Lakers rank first in Simple Rating System, second in net rating and have the best expected win-loss in the league.
Simply put: the record does always mean everything and as long as the team keeps it up they are most likely going to have the best record in the Western Conference.
Despite the solid play, the Los Angeles Lakers certainly can get better and will actively be looking to get better. The team was able to improve last year with the biggest in-season move being the signing of the bought-out Markieff Morris.
Morris was really solid for the Lakers once he was signed and had a few big games in the NBA Playoffs. He started two games as the small-ball center against the Houston Rockets and shot an incredible 42% on 69 attempts.
As the favorites to win the championship, the Lakers are naturally going to be one of the most enticing teams for those players that are bought out, so the Lakers certainly have an edge.
While the buyout market has not yet formed, there are certain players that the Los Angeles Lakers should already be keeping an eye out for.