Los Angeles Lakers: 3 reasons why LA will blow the West out of the water

3. There shouldn’t be another fluky season for the Los Angeles Lakers

Of course, anything is possible and nobody can completely write off the risk of injury for any team before a season. However, all the signs are pointing in a positive direction and the Los Angeles Lakers shouldn’t have to suffer what they went through last season.

First of all, the Lakers do not have to play after the shortest offseason in American sports history and actually got an extended offseason by being eliminated in the first round. That is extremely important with LeBron’s age and AD’s lingering issues.

Second of all, the Lakers’ depth and talent is going to allow the team to expect less out of LeBron and AD. Don’t be surprised if this is one of the worst statistical seasons for these two guys (they will still be great) as they tone it back a bit to stay healthy for the playoffs.

A massive part of this is Russell Westbrook. It is completely justified to question how the fit will work in the playoffs, especially in crunch time. But when it comes to the regular season, Westbrook absolutely makes the team better.

Westbrook is a guy who cares (sometimes more than he should) about every single game and when LeBron and AD need a break Westbrook will be there to pick up the slack and go 120% to help win some games.

This will result in fewer fluky losses against bad teams, which will, in turn, result in the team having the top seed in the Western Conference. Seeding does matter, especially with the play-in tournament now, and the Lakers should be confident that they can avoid another situation like last season where they fall all the way to seventh.

Theoretically, by the time the playoffs start, everyone on the team will be locked, loaded and ready to go.