The Los Angeles Lakers have vaulted themselves back into relevancy this summer, swinging a trade for Anthony Davis to give them an incredibly fearsome duo of Davis and LeBron James to go along with a solid group of role players.
But are the Lakers on their way to a championship or disappointment?
Los Angeles is playing in a very tough Western Conference in which it is not even the best team in its own city (hello, Clippers), and with the Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz also in the hunt, the road to the finals will be a trying one for the Lakers.
Still, the Lakers have two of the top five players in the NBA, so they should be in the running regardless of what happens.
So, here are four burning questions for LA ahead of training camp:
4. Is there Enough Shooting?
One of the Lakers' biggest problems last season was their horrific floor spacing. They tried to rectify that issue this offseason, bringing in Danny Green, Quinn Cook, Avery Bradley and Jared Dudley, but it's still fair to wonder whether or not it's enough.
The biggest issue is particularly in the frontcourt, where none of Los Angeles' bigs are particularly adept at shooting from long range.
Davis can hit threes here and there, but he is not exactly Serge Ibaka from downtown. Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee? Any shot either of those guys take outside of 10 feet is a bad one.
Remember: the Lakers did sign DeMarcus Cousins, but he tore his ACL.
It seems like Los Angeles will end up starting one of Howard or McGee alongside of Davis in the frontcourt, which could absolutely kill the Lakers' floor spacing.
This is definitely a potential issue worth monitoring.
3. Is Kyle Kuzma Ready to Take the Next Step?
Yes, the Lakers have LeBron and AD, but they are going to be relying on Kyle Kuzma an awful lot to carry the load at times throughout the season.
James is 34 going on 35, and Davis has always been prone to injury. As a result, the Lakers will probably be resting those guys periodically, or at least limiting their minutes. That means there will be that much more responsibility on Kuzma's shoulders.
Kuzma certainly has the potential to be a very good scorer in this league, but his efficiency has been a problem thus far, as he owns a career true-shooting percentage of 54.8 percent. Not terrible, but not what you want out of of one of your top guys, either.
Hopefully for LA, Kuzma has spent a good portion of the summer working on his shot, as he made just 30.3 percent of his three-pointers and 75.2 percent of his free throws this past season.
Make no mistake about it: the Lakers are going to need Kuzma to fill it up in 2019-20.
2. Can Frank Vogel Handle the Pressure?
Eyebrows were raised when the Lakers hired Frank Vogel as their new head coach earlier this offseason.
To be fair, Vogel has experience, as he coached the Indiana Pacers to back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals appearances in 2013 and 2014, but since then, Vogel has been largely disappointing, and he didn't coach anywhere this past year.
Of course, there is a lot that comes with coaching a LeBron-led team, and your job is never safe. Just ask David Blatt and Luke Walton.
To make matters worse for Vogel, the Lakers hired Jason Kidd, whom James deeply admires and respects, as an assistant.
If the Lakers stumble out of the gate, you can bet Vogel's job will immediately be on the line, and it would not be the least bit shocking to see Kidd take over the team at some point during the season.
1. How Many Minutes will LeBron Play?
James has led the league in minutes in two of the last three seasons, which is something that absolutely cannot continue this year.
He suffered the first real injury of his career during the 2018-19 campaign, as he missed over a month with a groin injury, and there were rumors that the Lakers were concerned about his health even after he returned.
With Davis now in tow and Kuzma entering his third season, there is no reason why James should be playing between 35 and 38 minutes per game again.
As a matter of fact, the smart thing to do would be to have James around 30-33 minutes a night, but that also takes an agreement on the part of LeBron, who has never seemed too keen on cutting his playing time.
But it's about the playoffs, and for a guy who is entering his 17th season and is about to turn 35 in December, James should understand that and should be willing to sit for longer than he is accustomed to.
Whether or not LeBron actually does that is another story entirely.
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