Early picks for the NBA’s next Western Conference champ
Los Angeles Lakers
There’s a familiar theme in NBA’s Western Conference since 1980 that when the Los Angeles Lakers are good, they are really good and win more than just one championship. Although most organizations would do anything for just one, the Lakers with LeBron James are looking for more to cement his legacy and solidify theirs as the most decorated franchise in NBA history. Judging by the aggressive moves they made in a shortened off-season, when they could of largely run it back and still have been one of the favorites, shows it’s a mission they do not take lightly.
The Los Angeles Lakers added the top two vote-getters in last season’s NBA Sixth Man of the Year award in winner, Montrezl Harrell, and runner-up, Dennis Schroder. Both have fit in seamlessly thus far and have formed an early, easy chemistry that bodes well for the future. Schroder has effectively taken the place of Lou Williams for Harrell in pick-and-roll offense and Montrezl is doing many of the same things that made him a player on the rise with the Clippers.
He knows his game and rarely goes outside of that; averaging 0.2 3-pointers for his career while attacking the basket with his own offense and in the following of missed shots. He has increased his offensive rebounding percentage over three percentage points and his free throw shooting by seven, up to a career-best 72 percent. Schroder is the younger, more offensive replacement to the secondary player-maker role opened up by the departed Rajon Rondo; although it is yet to be seen if he can replace the veteran leadership, courtsmanship (new basketball reference word of my own creation) and intangibles that have led to the lofty moniker of “Playoff Rondo” gracing his bios.
The issue for these players and the Los Angeles Lakers is not on the offensive end where they have both flourished in previous seasons and stops around the NBA, but on the defensive side of the ball where some questions have been raised. Schroder and Harrell have both seen their defensive win shares drop below one although the Lakers were uniquely built last season with a bevy of defensive-minded players to be able to afford decreased defense for more offensive possibilities. Considering they have the NBA’s top defensive rating, they seem to be compensating for their losses of JaVale McGee, Dwight Howard, Avery Bradley, Danny Green and Rondo quite nicely.
Time will tell though, since Marc Gasol’s DPOY days are long behind him, despite being an intelligent player who can shoot 3s in a way Dwight and JaVale couldn’t. Wesley Matthews is much the same as Gasol, a smart and tough veteran, but the Los Angeles Lakers took a definite downgrade in defense and attitude, especially on the interior where Anthony Davis may have to play more center despite any personal reticence to do so.
They still remain committed to head coach Frank Vogel’s vision of a big team not reliant on the 3 with an emphasis on defense, rebounding and limiting their opponent’s possessions and easy opportunities. With their changes in personnel though, the Los Angeles Lakers create less transition chances, one of their greatest strengths, from forcing fewer turnovers and making almost two fewer steals on the perimeter. Their new focus does have repercussions, even though they seem minor now and pale in the way the Lakers have set themselves up for continued success after the LBJ era. Not that the Los Angeles Lakers are taking that for granted either, and they are doing all they can with him to chase the next back-to-back title run in their storied history.