1. Rebounding and points in the paint
The Los Angeles Lakers have gone against the grain the last two seasons. While most teams in the league load up on three-point shooting, the Lakers leaned into their size. Of course, that is easy to do when you have both LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but they still went against the grain.
The team had shooters but it did not rely on the shooting as much as other great teams. Instead, the Lakers operated near the rim, often coming way with a huge advantage in rebounding and in points in the paint.
That is going to be the case yet again this season. The team still has LeBron and AD to help dominate the glass but they also just added the best rebounding guard in the league in Russell Westbrook.
Yes, sometimes his rebounds can be questionable but there is still no doubt that he is the best rebounding guard in the league.
While Marc Gasol is not a great rebounder and the team does not have another traditional four with size, that trio (and Dwight Howard) is going to dominate the glass both in grabbing boards and in crashing to the hoop and finishing at the rim.