Last year, the Los Angeles Lakers won 35 games, which strictly in terms of wins and losses was a huge black mark on the franchise’s storied history. This is the team that once employed Mikan, Baylor, West, Kareem, Magic, Worthy, Shaq and Kobe while winning 16 championships. Since the Lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1960, this is their eighth-worst season.
However, put in context with the fact that the Los Angeles Lakers four worst seasons of all time came in the four previous seasons, 35 wins was actually a resounding success.
But now that LeBron is on the team, the bar for success is much higher, and anything less than 50 wins and a second-round playoff run will be considered a failure. How the team does isn’t just up to LeBron, though. It’s largely dependent on how well the Lakers’ young core meshes with him and matures under the added pressure of playing alongside the new king of Hollywood.
If Lonzo, Kuzma, Ingram and Hart don’t step up and show serious signs of becoming players worthy of sharing the court with LeBron, then Rob Pelinka and Magic Johnson might have more work to do than they might have expected.
Each of the four main members of the Lakers young core has shown flashes of brilliance and signs of being a bust, and Ball represents both sides of the spectrum dangerously well.
We know that Ball is a transcendent passer, excellent rebounder for a guard and solid team defender, but if he is really going to help LeBron then he’s going to need to be at least a moderate threat to put the ball in the basket.
Ball started last year with historically bad shooting percentages. In the first 25 games of his rookie year, he shot 24.7 percent from beyond the arc and 32.2 percent overall. Before getting hurt, he showed signs of improvement over the last 27 games of his rookie year. During that span of games, Ball was able to improve his field goal percentage to just under 40 percent and shot an almost league-average 34.5 percent from the 3-point line.
Those percentages will need to continue to improve this season in order for Ball to space the floor. After an offseason surgery, just about the only thing Lonzo was able to do was work on his jump shot and bulk up — both of which should help him improve his overall shooting efficiency. He’s apparently tweaked his shot so that he isn’t bringing his shooting arm as far across his body, which should allow him to shoot quicker and more accurately.
Often times last year, when Ball got in the lane he would get pushed around by stronger defenders and end up taking awkward shots that ended up missing the rim or getting blocked.
The other member of the Lakers young core that clearly bulked up in the offseason is Kuzma, who took advice on how to get swole from none other than Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson. Kuzma was very inconsistent last year, especially on the defensive end. His additional size should help him there, especially on switches or when he needs to guard an opposing team’s big man after the departures of Julius Randle and Brook Lopez (especially since it’s uncertain how many minutes Javale McGee will be able to play per game after averaging less than 12 in each of the past four seasons).
A lineup that everyone would like to see is LeBron, Kuzma, Ingram, Ball and Hart and, in order for that line up to work, Kuzma will need to be able to guard post players and switch frequently, which he should be able to do now that he’s got some pecs and biceps.
The only member of the Lakers young core who came into his rookie year with some size for his position was Hart. At 6-foot-5 about 216 point, Hart is by far the stockiest of the four and that allowed him to be an excellent rookie defender. But going forward, the NBA Summer League MVP needs to keep up his 57.3 effective field goal percentage as his role on the team progressively increases. He’ll likely still come off the bench this year behind Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, but since Caldwell-Pope is on yet another one-year deal, the starting 2-guard position could be Hart’s in a season or two.
Lastly, the Laker who has the best chance of being the Robin to LeBron’s Batman is Ingram. Even though Ingram is in his third year, he’s younger than Kuzma and Hart and only two months older than Ball. He’s shown the ability to score in a multitude of ways and should get more open looks on catch-and-shoot opportunities and cuts to that basket than he ever has.
Last season, he was able to shot 39 percent from beyond the arc, but on less than two attempts per game. He will need to keep that percentage up while increasing his number of attempts this year in order to be worthy of being LeBron’s number two. He may never be Dwyane Wade or Kyrie Irving, but it’s certainly possible for him to be as productive as a Kevin Love this season.
No matter how well the Lakers’ young core plays, they’re likely in for a highly scrutinized season. Fans will always be wondering if they’re good enough to play alongside LeBron and help him contend for a championship. This will make their highs higher and their lows lower. It will be how they weather the storm in the long run that will determine their worth as players, and if the Lakers can will a championship by adding one more piece in the offseason.