Very few people think the Los Angeles Lakers will be a good team this season, even though they have a significantly improved and much younger supporting cast.
However, Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George still seems to respect the Purple and Gold as an opponent.
During the Clippers’ media day, he talked about how challenging the Pacific Division will be, and he named the Lakers as one of the teams that will be difficult to deal with.
“The Lakers are the Lakers, they’re going to be a challenge,” said George.
Many seem to think the Lakers will do no better than the play-in tournament this season, but from at least one perspective, that seems to be a cynical prediction that has been colored by the team’s poor showing last season.
However, the Lakers do have some of the tools they need to have a successful season.
Los Angeles still has arguably the NBA’s best superstar duo in LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Davis, in particular, has been challenged by James and head coach Darvin Ham to become the team’s top scoring option, and some close to him say he had his best summer ever in terms of training.
The backcourt looks strong with Russell Westbrook, a healthy Kendrick Nunn, who has been doing very well in training camp, Patrick Beverley, Dennis Schroder, Austin Reaves and Lonnie Walker IV.
The Lakers now have a much better center tandem in Damian Jones and Thomas Bryant, and Juan Toscano-Anderson could turn out to be an underrated role player at the forward position.
Ham has been emphasizing defense and fast-break basketball, and a renewed attention to detail and some good health could be just what the doctor ordered for a Lakers team that went 33-49 and missed the play-in tournament last season.
George’s Clippers, of course, are considered by most to be championship contenders, but they have injury concerns to deal with, as George has missed lots of games in his tenure with the team.
Kawhi Leonard is also returning from an ACL injury. Leonard also seemingly has ongoing injury problems that could cause him to miss a handful of games this season for “load management.”
