Can the Los Angeles Lakers catch up to the Brooklyn Nets?

Heading into the 2021 NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers were the favorites to repeat as NBA Champions. However, today, the Lakers sit in second place in championship odds according to Vegas Insider.

The team that is sitting in front of the Lakers in first place is the Brooklyn Nets. This is due to the amazing front office moves that the Nets have made throughout the regular season while the Lakers have only made one big move up to this point.

At the beginning of the regular season, the Nets were already title contenders with just Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and a roster full of depth.

Since then, they have loaded their roster with more superstar talent along with somehow adding more depth as well.

Their first big move put them in a four-team trade that would add James Harden to the roster. After this, they landed Blake Griffin in the buyout market after Griffin forced his way off of the Detroit Pistons. The final major move the Nets made was another signing from the buyout market that added LaMarcus Aldridge to the team.

Before they joined the Nets, Harden was averaging 24.8 points, 10.4 assists, and 5.1 rebounds per game in 2021. After being traded to Brooklyn, his numbers have somehow gone up and he is one of the front-runners for the MVP award.

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Griffin before signing with the Nets was averaging 12.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 2021. Although he has played a more reserved role with the Nets in his four games with the team, he has played much more efficiently.

Finally, Aldridge was averaging 13.7 points, and 4.5 rebounds per game before joining the Nets. He has yet to play with Brooklyn yet, however, it is expected that he will be seeing fewer shots and touches as Griffin has.

The Nets arguably have the most talented roster that the league has seen since the 2017-2019 Golden State Warriors.

It will be difficult for the Los Angeles Lakers to keep up.

The Los Angeles Lakers one major move up to this point that seemingly came in response to the Nets bulking up their roster was signing Andre Drummond.

Drummond was very unhappy spending his prime with a losing team in the Cleveland Cavaliers and refused to play again until he was traded or released from the team.

The Cavs eventually bought out his contract after they could not find a trade for him and he quickly signed with the Lakers.

Before joining the Lakers, Drummond averaged 17.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game.

Adding Drummond to the roster strengthens an already spectacular roster that would be championship favorites in most years.

However, this is not like most years and the Lakers should still be trying to catch up to Brooklyn.

With the trade deadline already passed, there will not be too many more options for the Lakers to add more talent to their roster. Demarcus Cousins, who had been rumored to possibly be signing with the Lakers, is in talks to sign a 10-day contract with the Los Angeles Clippers.

If things do not work out with the Clippers, the Lakers should be first in line to add Cousins to the roster.

If they are unable to add Boogie, Lakers fans and front office alike should hope that another great veteran player manages to get their contract bought out from a struggling team and the Lakers will be able to bring them in. If not, the Lakers will likely remain second in terms of championship contenders.

While the Nets have them beat on paper, it does not mean that things could not swing the Lakers way and they pull off and upset that many are saying would cement LeBron James as the greatest basketball player of all time.