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The Outlook of the Lakers
With almost 1 month in the books on the season, it�s time to
assess where the Lakers are now, and where we expect them to be headed in the
coming weeks and months. This team has
gotten off to a start unlike we have seen with the current regime in place, and
expectations are high in Laker Land as the fans are hopeful the next great
Lakers team has arrived.
To briefly recap a flurry of an offseason from a Lakers
point of view, the name of the game was change.
Only 4 players from last year�s Lakers roster would remain in the team�s
opening day roster this season. Those
guys being Cade Cunningham, Immanuel Quickley, David Roddy, and Caleb
Martin. Danilo Gallinari traveled with
the team for much of last season, but never played a game for the Lakers, so we
don�t consider him a holdover. The Laker�s
brought in Donovan Mitchell, Kevin Durant, and Andre Drummond, along with a couple
of fitting peripheral pieces to field one of the more fearsome NSL teams,
certainly the greatest rendition of the Lakers the NSL has ever seen.
Now how does this current team differentiate from past endeavors
that left Lakers fans wanting for more?
Well, it starts with the teams� star power up front, where KD and Andre
Drummond seem to never have an off night.
It doesn�t matter who Drummond matches up against, be it NBA MVP Nikola
Jokic, or one of the Spurs Slenderman imposters, Drummond battles on the glass
night in and night out. His ability to gobble up rebounds allows for the Lakers
to push in transition or find openings around the arc after Drummond corrals
and kicks out an offensive board. KD is
what he is, in my opinion, the best 2-way player in the NSL. Cade has progressed nicely, a true glitch
guard who would be scoring 30 a night on most other NSL teams. When KD and Mitchell need a breather, Cade
has seamlessly picked up creation duties, and flourished doing so, averaging over
21 points per game on 48% shooting from the floor. Gallo and Mitchell continue to hoist and fill
it up from deep, allowing for optimal spacing from this Lakers team. Quickley is a fantastic 6th man
punch, and Kris Dunn, Nowell, and Richards fill out the bench with useful pieces
who have an impact in various areas conducive to team success.
Gone are the days of the rebuild in Los Angeles, which the
Lakers are reportedly thinking of renaming, �Win-Angeles�. With new rule changes implemented last year, in
the event of a KD injury, the team would not even be able to trade its main
piece to kick start a rebuild. If
Mitchell or Cunningham goes down, there is a belief around the team that there�s
enough there to stay competitive until a return from injury. However, this team cannot afford an injury to
a front court piece, as we found out in week 3.
Nick Richards has proven to be an incredibly valuable piece to this franchise,
and we know what Drummond can do. Things
should progress smoothly for this team if they can keep their big men healthy.
The aspirations are huge within the team clubhouse. �Title or bust man, that�s why we came here,
we win titles�, the former Portland trio was heard exclaiming during a practice
session this week. �Yeah, I am coming
off of 2 titles in 3 years, and now that I�m not running with Bron anymore, I
know this is my team to lead to the promise land�, said KD. �Yeah, it�s different you know, Bron was
always looking for me on backdoor lobs, this team has some great distributors
too though, always making it easy for me�, said Drummond. �Yeah man, I am here because I got the sticky
fingers�, said Kris Dunn, keep that guy away from the trophy case Lakers staff! The trio of former Trailblazers are
everything that embodies the current iteration of this Lakers team. A bunch of guys who have climbed to the top
of the mountain elsewhere, and now want to do it on one of the world�s great
sports stages, in one of the worlds premiere cities. Though previous years haven�t panned out the
way it was planned in the off-season/pre-season, it's clear the message that LA
brass is sending regarding this season.
Title or bust.
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