Are the Lakers playoff contenders? After the Lakers struck out on key Free Agents like LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre Jordan, and Kevin Love, the Lakers managed to make up for their blunders by signing Brandon Bass and Sixth Man award winner Lou Williams as well as trade for Center Roy Hibbert from the Indiana Pacers. Let’s not forget the Lakers drafting D’Angelo Russell with the Number two pick to add with a young mix of Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle. The Lakers managed to have a pretty decent off-season and on paper look to be an improvement but is that enough to say that they’re a playoff team? Kobe Bryant apparently thinks they are. In a recent interview done with Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports, Kobe was asked if he believed the Lakers could
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If he said anything different then it would be a surprise to a lot of us. Now whether he truly believes that or not is a different topic for another day. Believe it or not the Lakers, on paper, look like a playoff contender with the off-season they had, however games aren’t played on paper and reality shows that the Lakers playoff quest have too many factors that have to fall in the Lakers favor. Why you might ask? Well for starters they play in the western conference, which for years has been stacked with good teams’ years. The Lakers would have to compete with New Orleans, Dallas, and Portland just for A spot in the playoffs. Health is also a key. Last two seasons the Lakers were hit with injuries that depleted the team and sent them into a downward spiral. The play of the younger players such as Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, D’Angelo Russell, and Anthony Brown will be very important as well. While it’s easy to point out how Brandon Bass, Kobe, Lou Williams, Nick Young, and Hibbert will be very important, it’s really the rookies and 2nd year players that have to step it up to help the team in a very tough Western Conference. They’ll have to step up and provide a spark to get this team going in the right direction if they even want to think about the
If he said anything different then it would be a surprise to a lot of us. Now whether he truly believes that or not is a different topic for another day. Believe it or not the Lakers, on paper, look like a playoff contender with the off-season they had, however games aren’t played on paper and reality shows that the Lakers playoff quest have too many factors that have to fall in the Lakers favor. Why you might ask? Well for starters they play in the western conference, which for years has been stacked with good teams’ years. The Lakers would have to compete with New Orleans, Dallas, and Portland just for A spot in the playoffs. Health is also a key. Last two seasons the Lakers were hit with injuries that depleted the team and sent them into a downward spiral. The play of the younger players such as Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, D’Angelo Russell, and Anthony Brown will be very important as well. While it’s easy to point out how Brandon Bass, Kobe, Lou Williams, Nick Young, and Hibbert will be very important, it’s really the rookies and 2nd year players that have to step it up to help the team in a very tough Western Conference. They’ll have to step up and provide a spark to get this team going in the right direction if they even want to think about the