Hot take - This is a championship level roster

[Japago]

[governator]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[av3773]

I don't think so. Sure, if absolutely everything breaks our way...Bron and AD healthy playing great, JJ good first year coach, AR takes a step, D lo consistency, etc etc

Realistically I think this team is fighting for a playoff spot again....good enough to beat any team on a given night, but not good enough to sustain a high level of excellence.

[ElginBaylor]

You're forgetting our secret weapon...Bronny!
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Not a legend

[PICKnPOP]

I guess I just view this team differently than most fans. I think we ran into the one team we couldn't beat in 7 and we even had them shook for most of the series.

This team depends on AD being the most dominant player in the paint to win and he's just not that guy against joker. I am not concerned about anyone else in the western conference tbh.

I agree there will be a lot of teams in the west who are better regular season teams than thr Lakers. I just can't see any of them beating us in 7 (other than denver).

And tbh I think this is the season we get over that Denver hump as well. I think Darvin was the problem in that series. I don't think he was listening to his own players.
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“like I never left”

#1

[A Mad Chinaman]

[ElginBaylor]

[Laker's Fan]

Contender level teams have a multitude of two way players, the flexibility to counter various playoff strategies/gimmicks, and tend to have player/system continuity.

We have rookie head coach who is installing a system that Davis described as something none of them have done before. Our defense in non-AD minutes is atrocious because we lack credible defensive size up front. If any of our three primary ballhandling guards, Russell, Reaves or Vincent gets hurt, that will thrust JHS or Bronny into the rotation. We are $45k under the second apron and have zero roster spots, so finding short term solutions in case we need help is prohibitive.

This isn't a title contender. It's a cash grab by ownership using LFT while they try to build back up their player capital for the next generation of the team.
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Los Angeles Lakers Leadership: Jeanie Buss, Robert Pelinka, Kurt Rambis, LeBron James, Rich Paul.

[A Mad Chinaman]

[Halflife]

kyrie and luka being below average defenders doesnt mean much. Both guys improved and Luka is so far and away better than anything most teams have that it doesn't matter. They lost because Celtics are stacked.

Rob will do what he does best. Sign guys that no other teams see as usable.
Dlo
Cam
Wood
Hayes
all fall into that category. All unmovable when we have to make a move. Fingers crossed.
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Kobe.
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[Denny_Russo]

[Denny_Russo]

[PICKnPOP]

I think this team has a good mix of offensive players and defensive players. We don’t have a lot of two-way players though which is why we need to find balance.
If we need to lock down defensively we could throw this group out there.

Gabe
Max
Vando
Lebron
AD

Reaves
Max
Vando
Lebron
AD
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“like I never left”

#1

[Hanging from Rafters]

[Hammett]

If AD or LBJ get injured, it's all over.
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Lakers. Built different.

[Pidge]

I don't know whether or not the roster is good enough to really compete, but I think we'll have a real go and that we're underrated by many. The main thing I like about it is that we know it has character, it will try when the chips are down (even if it's likely to come up short, it makes it easier for me to root for the players).

It's probably also not the worst thing in the world to have an established core with a rookie coach, it means that a lot of the chemistry and players knowing each other is already done, JJ can just focus on adapting rather than building something from scratch.
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"I got Wheaties!"

[manlisten]

D'lo/AR/Rui/Bron/AD is absolutely not a contender. This isn't some unknown. There's a 75+ year history of the league that teaches us what a championship team looks like. We can act like naive fans and believe anything is possible or we can go off of the precedent that has been well established. It's a team that will win plenty of games in the regular season but the regular season is not the playoffs.

When you swap Rui with Vando you get a more balanced team with a top defense and above average offense. That team would be a contender if you can do something with Vando on offense as well as D'lo in general once the screws get tightened and the weaknesses of these types of players get magnified. But this isn't guesswork or "you never know" type of empty analysis. There's a well documented formula for winning in the NBA and the Laker version of that depends on Max/Gabe/Vando being 2 way players because they are the only role players who've shown that potential.
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It was reminiscent of one of those Most Interesting Man in the World advertisements: "I don't always shoot 6-for-28 from the field, but when I do, I become the youngest player in league history to score 28,000 career points."

[RI Laker]

[Halflife]

last year
bron played to his ceiling
ad played to his ceiling
dlo played to his ceiling
AR played to his ceiling
= playin=7th seed=1st round fodder

we need huge upgrades.
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Kobe.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Clw9scopegx/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[LakerDYnasty72]

[pio2u]

Breakout Candidates for Lakers Heading into Season

[Halflife]

[wolfpaclaker]

Depends on other teams in the West. If they've lowered themselves from last year - which in the case of Denver is definitely true - then the Lakers just may be in contention for coming out of the West if a lot of things go right.

The real thing is though - I don't think they're balanced enough to win a title nor is Lebron at that 2016 level where he can take a team that's 2-way balanced all the way to the title. Lebron is not playing at that Joker/Doncic level consistently enough. Neither does AD. So we do need that talent around them, sort of like you say with Boston has around Tatum/Brown.

What may work out as I said above is the rest of the West just isn't that good this year. We have to wait and see. Our ceiling IMO is we're a 50 win team. That should have been where we end up last season had Ham coached better all season. So lets say all the health of AD/Bron repeats and JJ is a better coach and maybe we get something out of last year's duds (Vincent, Vando etc). Then we'll probably be able to hit 50Ws. That may put us 2nd/3rd if the West is weaker and may put us in contention to come out of the West. That's a lot of mays though. Overall if the West is as good as it was last year, where there about 12 .500 or better teams, and 2-3 really good teams, I think our best case is a 5th seed.

[RashardA]

The delusion is so real.
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Everyting negative - pressure, challenges - is all an opportunity for me to rise.
-Kobe Bryant