Even though this offseason has seen the Los Angeles Lakers add a superstar to their roster in Anthony Davis, a possible championship run apparently isn’t being taken too seriously.
That’s the collective opinion of 20 NBA coaches, executives and scouts, none of whom feel that the Lakers are capable of winning their first NBA title since 2010.
Tim Bontemps of ESPN reported the network’s survey, which inquired about a number of different topics and asked for predictions regarding the 2019-20 campaign. In the matter of picking an NBA champion, the strong favorite is the other NBA tenant in Staples Center, the Los Angeles Clippers.
When it came to the Lakers, the team wasn’t one of the four Western Conference squads mentioned in the survey that were considered possibilities to capture an NBA championship.
One Eastern Conference scout indicated that the Clippers’ offseason additions of both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, coupled with the Lakers’ recent woes, was the basis for his call:
“I’m going to say the Clippers right now. Certainly I’d understand why someone would say the Lakers, but I don’t trust the Lakers to get anything right.”
The Clippers received 16 of the 20 votes to win the Western Conference, while garnering 13 of 20 votes when it came to selecting an NBA champion. If the predictions in this survey were to come true, the Clippers would be facing the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Finals. Only two of those surveyed believe the Bucks will capture their second-ever league title.
