The Los Angeles Lakers have garnered lots of criticism since the trade window opened given the number of players past the age of 30 on their roster. Led by the 36-year-old LeBron James, the 2020 NBA champions will look to reach past glories at the end of the upcoming season after being kicked from the postseason prematurely this year.
The team’s average age stands at 31.2 following the additions of Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony. The criticism bothered LeBron enough to get him to tweet about it – the four-time champion has since deleted the tweet. However, they’re the betting favorites to come out of the Western Conference next term and are second only to the Brooklyn Nets where title odds are concerned.
Fans are already placing bets on the upcoming NBA season and, to that end, a Fox Bet review before placing some money would be recommended. The Lakers are 13/4 to win a Championship in 2021/22, with the Nets at 13/5. The reigning champion Milwaukee Bucks are 13/2 to repeat their feat next season while the Golden State Warriors have risen to 11/1.
The Lakers have more star power than any other team in the West and that should count for something. While all of their superstars, barring Anthony Davis, are above 30, they’re still superstars. The addition of young point guard Kendrick Nunn should also be quite helpful. The undrafted point guard made a name for himself with the Miami Heat and has all the makings of a future star.
Star power wins titles and, despite the Bucks being something of an anomaly, it should be pointed out that they had some luck along the way as the Nets had Kyrie Irving out injured while James Harden clearly wasn’t his potent self and was hobbled throughout the series. The nets were also a shoe size away from reaching the NBA Finals.
The Lakers have two players in the league’s top 10 and the Nets are the only other team boasting such.
Westbrook is still a top 20 or so player and has been one of the most prolific scorers in the NBA for several years. The Los Angeles Clippers will likely watch Kawhi Leonard sit out the entire season while the Denver Nuggets’ Jamal Murray is also likely to miss most of it. Damian Lillard is still left to carry most of the scoring burden in Portland, we could say the same for Luka Doncic in Dallas – Donovan Michell and Rudy Gobert are simply not enough to get by this star-studded Lakers cast.
The Phoenix Suns are the conference champions and they made easy work of the Lakers last season, however, they should struggle to get past this team as it is.
The Warriors look like the only genuine threat and it would still take quite the effort even with both Steph Curry and Klay Thompson fit and firing.
Joining this Lakers team really was Carmelo’s best shot at a title as far as the Western Conference goes. “I’m coming in with a championship on my mind,” the veteran told ESPN. “I think we all know that this is the one thing that I’m missing, right? This is the one thing that keeps me up at night, it motivates me because I don’t have it. I want that experience.”
The former New York Knicks star has also addressed the age talk coming from fans.
“We don’t care,” he declared. “We don’t care. We make our own narrative.
“I like when people talk about the age. It gives a better story. I think it gives a better story. I think people forget, at the end of the day, it’s about basketball. You got to know how to play basketball. You got to have that experience. I think that’s what we bring at this point and time. Our talent, our skill, but also our experience.”
Anthony has never made it to a final, only making it as far as the Western Conference finals in 2009, where his Nuggets were eliminated by the Lakers in six. The Lakers tried clearing cap space in order to convince Anthony to join Kobe Bryant five years later but it didn’t work out.
“It seems just throughout my whole career, I’ve always been connected to the Lakers some way, somehow,” he pointed out. “Whether it was through my brother Kobe, regardless of what it is, I’ve always been connected to it some way, somehow. It wasn’t really no pitch this time. I think it was really just more of an understanding. Like, ‘OK, the time is now. The time is now for both parties to merge, for both parties to agree to come together, and let’s put this thing together.'”