Last season the Los Angeles Lakers were the heavy favorites to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals, however, after a decent start, the season unraveled, and the team missed the playoffs.
The Lakers are in win-now mode and do not have the luxury of blowing the roster up and rebuilding. They begin this season with the same core of veteran players that couldn’t find the winning formula last season, with the hope a second year playing together might yield better results than the first.
Favorites to Win
The top sportsbooks in the US have the Lakers as underdogs to win the NBA Championship. Currently, the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks are favorites at +500, followed by the Golden State Warriors at +700, the Laker’s crosstown rival Los Angeles Clippers at +750, with the Phoenix Suns at +800, rounding out the top 5. The Lakers opened at +3000 but are now long shots at +8000.
The Power of 360
360 is the nickname given to a trio of the Lakers’ most potent players based on the number they wear. Anthony Davis is No.3, LeBron James wears No.6, and Russell Westbrook has No. 0. The three max-deal players account for more than 75% of the entire team’s payroll, meaning it’s sink-or-swim with these three for the Lakers.
LeBron James is still producing at a potential MVP level, but he’s not getting any younger, and his once-ironman status has been peppered by various injuries over the last couple of seasons. Anthony Davis might not be getting up there in age, but the big man has a reputation for being one of the more injury-prone stars in the league.
In fact, Davis getting injured is what derailed the team in 2021 and is ultimately what made General Manager Rob Pelinka desperate enough to trade for Russell Westbrook.
Adding Free Agents
The obvious problem with having three players monopolize the majority of your cap space is filling out the rest of your roster on a budget. This problem plagued the team last season and appears to be problematic again. The combination of veteran players and unproven young guns simply didn’t lead to wins last season, yet the team has little choice but to hope that this year will be different.
The Lakers bench appears to be slightly stronger than last season, however, it doesn’t look like it will be the marked improvement that may be needed.
The team acquired Patrick Beverley from Utah via trade and that should help them on the defensive end. Lonnie Walker IV is a solid bench guard, but he barely shot above 40 percent from the field last season and he’s expected to take on a bigger role. The team brought in Thomas Bryant to be their new starting center, but he didn’t look like the same player in his return from a torn ACL last season. Troy Brown Jr. and Juan Toscano-Anderson didn’t have big roles for the Chicago Bulls and the Golden State Warriors last season and probably won’t have much impact on the Lakers this season.