<Before I begin I’m sorry that I haven’t been posting in awhile and now that I am in a rhythm with school I will be able to focus on the blog and try to post every week>
Lakers: 2017
As we begin to enter the 2017-2018 NBA season people are already predicting playoff spots and season records. As always, the Warriors and Cavaliers are constantly in conversation as they have established themselves as the two premier teams in the league. Then you hear names like the Celtics, Wizards, Rockets, and Spurs which are teams expecting to make deep playoff runs. However, a team that has entered the conversation and has not been positively talked about in the last couple of years is the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers, which are the second most successful team in NBA history, have been extremely unsuccessful in the last 4 years and 5 years ago created one of the biggest superteam failures of all time. Now they have found new hope in their young core. With no surprise, the headliner of this Los Angeles basketball renaissance is Lonzo Ball. If you are a reader of my content I have gone on about Lonzo in my draft article and I am so excited to see what he has to offer. After Ball Players like Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, and Brandon Ingram. Clarkson who was drafted by the Wizards at the 46 pick out of Missouri, is a great pickup for the Lakers as he can penetrate and shoot from the outside. This combined with Balls passing ability, Randles finishing, and size, and Ingram’s exceptional scoring ability, this makes the Lakers a team filled with amazing potential. But as we look to the rest of the team there’s one player that deserves a lot more attention than he is given.
When looking at the Los Angeles Lakers summer league team everybody was locked on Lonzo Ball and was shocked when they saw Lonzo share the spotlight with another young player. Kyle Kuzma out of Utah ended the Summer League averaging 20.5 ppg and 10 rebounds per game along with a triple-double in the Lakers Summer League Championship. Kuzma has been called a “positionless basketball player” by Lakers Gm Rob Pelinka and he is able to stretch the floor with his shooting ability and is great finishing on a break. He is always out on the run looking for a Lonzo outlet pass and is able to set up teammates by himself in a half court set. In my opinion, he is James worthy with a jump shot and is also able to score out of faceup situations. Overall his impact on the Lakers second unit will be tremendous as the team continues to build.
As stated earlier the Lakers are a team on the rise and hopes are high all across the organization but next offseason will put the Lakers on cross roads. With players like Paul George, Russell Westbrook, and possibly even LeBron James, showing interest in the organization one would expect Lakers fans to be ecstatic. With that being said the Lakers recent struggles have allowed them to pick up a lot of potential in these recent draft picks and bringing in a superstar player like George or James could stunt growth. Along with stunting growth these superstar players have already experienced 5,10, or in Lebron’s case 14 years of tough NBA seasons that have taken a toll. While Westbrook and George are in their prime they both have suffered huge injuries over the last 3 years that could enable their play when they’re older. This might not mean anything now but 3 years from now when the Lakers young core would be reaching their prime, the superstar free agents that could potentially land in LA will most likely be on the declining ends of their careers and will be wanting to ring chase. With all of this being said out of these three players, in my opinion, Paul George is the right option due to the fact that he can play shooting guard allowing Jordan Clarkson to come off the bench and lead the second unit. George is also more willing to take a smaller role and he does not need to have the ball in his hand every second to make something happen. Westbrook and Lebron, on the other hand, will be wanting to control the entire pace of the game with the ball in their hands. In the end, the Lakers are looking good going into this season and I am extremely excited to see how they perform with Ball at the helm and Magic leading the Management.