2. Kyrie spreads the floor for the Lakers
Last season there was a myriad of issues for Los Angeles on the offensive side, however, none bigger than their inability to spread the floor. LeBron made his shots from behind the arc with the same streaky shooting he has displayed throughout his career.
It was the rest of the roster that was unable to get consistent shots and left opposing defenses the ability to simply sit back and make Laker’s ball handlers beat multiple defenders to get to the rim believing they couldn’t make a deep shot.
The Lakers have helped this issue by adding younger more athletic shooters to their roster this off-season. The biggest problem remains starting Westbrook and Anthony Davis together two players who have given the defense zero reason to fear they can make a shot when needed.
Swap out Westbrook for Irving and all of these changes for the Lakers. Suddenly you have a pure shooter who can get to the rim and score at will inside or consistently hit deep threes. He is a walking bucket who can score 50 on any given night.
Even on nights he is off simply having the threat on the floor for the Lakers completely changes the offense and gives them the ability to be one of the best offensive teams in the conference.