Just for the record, I am doubling down on my departure from this blog at the conclusion of Week 17 of the NFL Season. But, I don't want to leave Laker Nation hanging to provide my overall thoughts on the upcoming season. The Lakers only had a good 1 1/2 month to celebrate banner #17. Now, they have to get back to work in what is a very short turnaround because the NBA wants their Christmas Day games. What we know is that the league has shortened the season to 72 games. Only the first half of games has been revealed for each team. The second half is yet to be determined. And after a successful implementation in the NBA Bubble, the play-in tournament between the #9 and #8 seeds has been brought back.
The Lakers are coming in as the defending NBA Champion, having conquered the Bubble in what felt like it was just 72 hours ago that they won the NBA Finals over the Miami Heat in 6 games. Typical championship teams tend to sit back and retain their championship core as long as they can. The drawbacks is that the core gets a year older and opposing teams get better. For the Lakers, the team that just won the championship were filled with veterans and former All-Stars who were on their last legs or looking for a ring before they cash out with other teams. I don't think hanging on to everyone would've been wise, especially in such a short turnaround.
Nobody had a better understanding of this than Rob Pelinka. To ensure that the Lakers stay one step ahead of everyone, he rolled the dice and there was no Kawhi Leonard decision to hold him down like last year. It was tough to see fan favorites like Rajon Rondo, JaVale McGee, Dwight Howard, and Danny Green (not really) leave. But, they were replaced with younger players in Dennis Schroder and Montrezl Harrell and cheaper veterans in Wesley Matthews and Marc Gasol. Gasol gives the Lakers a big who can space the floor even more and be the extra facilitator. Wes Matthews provides more offensive arsenal than what Danny Green provided as a mere spot-up shooter and is a solid defender in his own right. Schroder and Harrell gives the Lakers potential pieces that could play with AD in the long-run and helps fortify the bench with two 6MOY candidates. If there was one negative that the Lakers had last season is that they typically fumble away big leads, which leads to LeBron and AD playing unnecessary minutes in the 4th quarter. Because once those two leave, the offense sputters. That's not going to happen when you have Schroder as a reliable third option and Harrell who can double-double at any time. Those acquisitions will help LeBron and AD preserve energy come playoff time because they literally carried the Lakers to a title just two months ago.
With the departure of McGee and Dwight, they do lose some rim protection and additional lob threats outside of AD. That will be something to monitor as the season progresses, especially when the Lakers run into the premiere bigs like Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Karl Anthony-Towns, and Bam Adebayo. Marc Gasol is the Lakers' only true Center this season. And he might've lost some athleticism, but he's still a cerebral defender. I don't think it's a cause for concern at the moment. Keep in mind, the buyout market is still a little later this season, so that'll give the Lakers some options to add another big for extra rim protection. Dewayne Dedmon is still in the market and who knows? The Cavs might buy out McGee, which allows him to come back to the purple and gold.
Despite some tough departures, the championship roster is mostly in tact. KCP re-signed for three years. Markieff Morris re-signed for the minimum. Jared Dudley and Quinn Cook are brought back for team chemistry purposes. The biggest ones is that the Lakers have LeBron and AD to stay for at least 3 more years. LeBron signed until 2023. AD is locked in for the foreseeable future. And on an interesting bonus, the Lakers locked up Kyle Kuzma for 3 years, $40 million just recently. No question Kuz has been a disappointment in his current role. But we have to remember, he battled nagging foot injuries last year so he couldn't fully assimilate himself into Frank Vogel's rotation. No question, he's on a short leash with Talen Horton-Tucker showing up this preseason. We're going to see some extended action from THT after some nice spurts in the Bubble. But the big story, LBJ and AD are here to stay and will extend the Lakers' championship window for another three years.
With that said, can the Lakers run it back this year? This shouldn't be a question to begin with. The Lakers have a pretty good influx of youth and veterans around their dynamic duo. Yes, there's some cracks in the front court and on the wings. But, Frank Vogel and the coaching staff have a great knack of putting players in the best positions to win. This Laker team now has a good idea on how to get to the Finals, let alone win a championship. The crosshairs are going to be looming large at them as teams will try to come at them to dethrone them. There are teams that will be a threat: Clippers, Dallas, and Denver out West. Milwaukee, Brooklyn, Philly, and Miami out East. But, the Lakers have a pretty legit chance to repeat and go back-to-back. A new dynasty is brewing.
It's been real Laker Nation. Thank you all for a great 10 years on this blog. One of the great feelings in the world is finally covering a championship season here. It was a long wait. But, it was well worth it at the end. I'm ready to move on to my next chapter in life. I'll see you guys later.
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