Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka believes the team has an opportunity to win a championship next year.

Pelinka pointed to how the Lakers have a superstar in LeBron James, a good coach in Frank Vogel and a talented young core headlined by Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart.

Pelinka also mentioned the Lakers having the No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.

“I think if people take a look at where this franchise is right now, again we have a great coach, we have a high draft pick. We have a great young core, maybe one of the best in the league. We have a superstar on our team, and an open slot,” Pelinka said Monday during Vogel's introductory news conference, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

“So I think people can look at this as an opportunity to win a championship possibly next year.”

The Lakers missed the playoffs in 2018-19, the first year of the LeBron era. LA was in fourth place in the Western Conference standings after defeating the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day. However, that's the game where James suffered a serious left groin injury which costed him 17 games.

The Lakers went just 6-11 during that 17-game stretch where LeBron was out. Even after James returned from the injury, the team was never able to regain the momentum they had before James went down. The Anthony Davis trade drama and all the trade reports getting leaked pretty much tore the Purple and Gold apart.

The Lakers have cap space this summer to sign a star player next to LeBron. Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler and Kemba Walker are the All-Stars who enter free agency this offseason.