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If this were any other year, the Los Angeles Lakers would have had a few more weeks to enjoy the franchise’s first championship in a decade. But instead of planning overseas vacations or a parade in downtown Los Angeles, the team shifted its focus on free agency days into the offseason.
After weeks of trades, signings, and extensions, Rob Pelinka and the front office completed the best offseason in recent memory, bringing in Dennis Schroder, Montrezl Harrell, Wesley Matthews, and Marc Gasol while bringing back Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Markieff Morris and signing LeBron James and Anthony Davis to massive extensions that will keep them in Laker jerseys for the foreseeable future. The Lakers are considered favorites after retooling their lineup, and James already likes their chances of repeating. Here are four predictions for the 2020-2021 season for the defending champions:
1. The bench will be one of the NBA’s best
The Lakers bench averaged 39.3 points per game during the regular season, which ranked just 11th in the NBA, and well behind the Los Angeles Clippers’ league-best 50.3 points from their reserves. That number even dipped to 33.8 points in the postseason as coach Frank Vogel tightened his rotation, which ranked fifth among playoff teams. But with the addition of Harrell and Schroder, the winner and runner-up for the Sixth Man of the Year award last season, the Lakers should improve and have one of the league’s best second units.
The team’s starting lineup still isn’t decided, and there’s a possibility that Schroder, who averaged 18.9 points for the Oklahoma City Thunder last season as Chris Paul’s backup, could start alongside James. But that still means that Harrell, who put up 18.6 points for the Clippers, would be on the Lakers bench along with another new addition in Matthews (7.4 points) and returning players Kyle Kuzma (12.8 points), Alex Caruso (5.5 points), Markieff Morris (5.3 points), and Quinn Cook (5.1 points).
That gives Vogel and the coaching staff the luxury of having a deep rotation, with bench players that would be starters if they were playing for other teams. But more than giving the Lakers more offensive firepower that should be among the league’s best, an improved bench means more rest for James, Davis, and the starters during games, which they could use after a grueling title run and a relatively short offseason.
2. A top 5 offense and defense
The Lakers were one of the few teams which boasted an offense and defense that both landed in the NBA’s top 10 last season. Los Angeles had an offensive rating of 111.7, per NBA.com, which was tied for 10th with the San Antonio Spurs, a number which increased to 115.6 during the postseason, which was second among playoff teams. Their defense, meanwhile, consistently ranked among the league’s best, and finished third during the regular season at 106.1.
Only two teams finished the regular season in the top five in both offensive and defensive rating: the Clippers and the Boston Celtics. But with the Lakers bringing scorers like Harrell and Schroder on board, their offense should be better than last season. The loss of Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee, however, will be felt on the defensive end, as the two traditional centers, along with Davis, helped the Lakers average a league-high 6.6 blocks per game.
Harrell is not known as a rim protector and struggled against Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic in the Conference Semifinals, but another new Laker in Gasol is a capable defender, and playing next to Davis, the runner up for the Defensive Player of the Year award, should make the reigning Sixth Man of the Year better on that end. Schroder and Matthews, meanwhile, should be able to replace the defensive contributions of Danny Green and Rajon Rondo, and having Caldwell-Pope and Caruso in their guard rotation also helps shore up what was one of the league’s best defenses last season.
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3. LeBron and AD will have MVP caliber seasons
The season ended with James hoisting his fourth Larry O’Brien and Finals MVP trophies, but he also came close to winning his fifth MVP award during the regular season. Despite the debate that he should have won or at least received more first place votes, James finished second in the MVP race, with Giannis Antetokounmpo winning his second straight MVP award. In his 17th season, James averaged 25.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, a league-leading 10.2 assists, and 1.2 steals while shooting 49.3% from the field and 34.8% from beyond the arc in a bounce back season after playing a career-low 55 games during his first season in Los Angeles.
The King, however, wasn’t the Lakers’ only player to be considered among the NBA’s best. Davis finished sixth in the MVP race, leading the Lakers in different departments with 26.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.5 steals, and 2.3 blocks on 50.3% shooting from the field and 33% from downtown. But more than the gaudy numbers, the 27-year old looked great alongside James during his first season with the Lakers, and has already signed an extension, ensuring that the team will have a franchise cornerstone for years to come.
While James has usually spoken out against resting during the regular reason, he and Davis may have to sit out some of their games after having just 71 games in between the playoffs and a new season. The NBA’s new rest rule that allows teams to rest key veteran players who competed deep in the 2020 Playoffs should benefit James and Davis and cause them to miss some of their games to rest, but when they are on the court, they are still two of the league’s best players, and will continue to put up big numbers and find themselves in the MVP conversation.
4. Lakers will finish with NBA’s best record
The Lakers could have won 60 games last season, but instead finished with a 52-19 record when the regular season was suspended, giving them the best record in the Western Conference and the third-best record in the NBA behind the Bucks and Toronto Raptors. There’s a chance that the Lakers might not even aim for the league’s best record and instead choose to keep James and Davis fresh for the playoffs, with the two All Stars already sitting out their preseason opener. But when the season begins next month, the Purple and Gold will still parade the league’s most talented lineup and will have two of the game’s best players.
There’s a lot that could happen, especially in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic that can quickly decimate a team’s depth and mess with a coach’s rotation just like what happened in the NFL. But if the Lakers can remain healthy for a majority of the season, and they encounter little to no chemistry issues despite having four new rotation players and a short turnaround between seasons, then it’s hard to see another team finishing with the league’s best record and carrying homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs.
