Dwyane Wade recently entered retirement after a no-doubt Hall of Fame career spanning 16 seasons — 14.5 of them with the Miami Heat.
In his first year out of the league since the 2003-04 NBA season, Wade is planning on spending a lot of time with his good friend LeBron James.
Similar to the changes Wade is dealing with being off an NBA roster for the first time since he was 21-years-old, the Lakers also underwent a massive structural change this offseason. They traded for Anthony Davis and added several great role players to make a formidable championship-level roster. Wade himself said either the Lakers or Los Angeles Clippers will win it all in the 2020 NBA Finals.
Wade also believes the Lakers have the talent required to be a great team. Specifically, he said the Lakers roster is great from top to bottom, according to Brandon Robinson of Heavy:
“The talent and the roster is great top to bottom,” Wade, a three-time NBA Champion.
Despite the roster being great, Wade wanted to warn people that it may take some time for the team to gel together before maximizing their potential:
“It’s just going to take some time to get it together and get the continuity together.”
Wade of all people would know what it’s like for a new but talented roster to take some time. When James first joined the Miami Heat along with Chris Bosh for the 2010-11 NBA season, they started out 9-8 before rattling off a 12-game winning streak.
Not only that but in James’ first season back with the Cleveland Cavaliers, they started out 20-20 despite having Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. They then also proceeded to get a 12-game winning streak.
The point of Wade’s comments is to warn fans against expecting too much from the team right off the bat. Having immediate high expectations could lead to bad things if the Lakers don’t get off to the hottest start.
Luckily, the Lakers have somewhat of a favorable schedule to start the 2019-20 season — or at least as favorable as one team can have in the Western Conference.
Of their first 20 games, 12 are against non-playoff teams from last season. And of the eight against playoff teams, three games — the Toronto Raptors and Oklahoma City Thunder (two games) are against teams who suffered major losses during the 2019 NBA offseason.
