The 2024-25 NBA season is here! We break down the biggest questions, best and worst case scenarios and fantasy prospects for all 30 teams. Appreciate!
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
End of 2023-24
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Save: 47-35 (lost in the first round to the Nuggets, but they also won the season tournament, so, you know: it’s not all bad)
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Offensive rating: 115.4 (15th)
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Defensive rating: 114.8 (17th)
Off-season movements
The big question: Can LeBron + AD still give you a chance?
Two seasons ago, the Lakers’ fortunes turned when they ended the Russell Westbrook experiment in favor of surrounding LeBron James and Anthony Davis with more players who can shoot and defend. (You may remember, this is how they won the 2020 NBA championship.) The result: a 18-9 close to the regular season, a differential of the first seven points during that span and playoff wins over the Grizzlies and Warriors before losing to the Nuggets.
Last season, after spitting to .500 on February 1, their fortunes began to turn when Ham surrounded James and Davis with Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura – three players who could shoot and (sort of) to defend. The result: a 22-10 close, the the #3 offense in the league and a play-in victory against the Pelicans before losing to the Nuggets.
We know this: First time Head coach Redick won’t wait 50 games to look at what works, I plan to start this programming from Jump Street. For good reason: LeBron-AD-Reaves-Russell-Hachimura dominated their opponents by 6.9 points per 100 possessions last season, scoring at a clip of the first three while defending like a unit among the top seven. The team also replicated this success in the playoffs. trailing Denver by 14 points in 96 minutes.
A lineup featuring multiple shooters and ball handlers to lighten LeBron’s playing load who can take advantage of great positional size on defense while pounding the paint on offense – LA finished second in the NBA in the part of his shots that arrived at the rimfirst in percentage of success at the edge of the field and second in free throw rate – is a great place to start. Think about how outstanding James looked as Team USA’s quarterback, and how dominant Davis looked defensively, and your mind begins to trace the contours of another title push.
“Going there at my age, with the miles that I have, and being able to play at the level that I played at, it gave me… even more of a feeling of: ‘OK, I have a lot in the tank – a lot”, James told reporters during media day. “I can help a big part of a team win the final, whether it’s gold or the Larry O’Brien Trophy or whatever the case may be. I can still do it.
One tricky issue: The Lakers’ second unit doesn’t include Kevin Durant, Anthony Edwards and Bam Adebayo.
This year’s list largely resembles that of its predecessor: the natural result of a summer spent in a staring contest with the apron after Russell, a essential indicator of the regular season And playoff millpicked up his $18.7 million player option. Salvation must therefore come from within: from the internal development of young people like Max Christie and Jalen Hood-Schifino; the hopefully salutary effects of continuity; and of Redick picking every low-hanging fruit he can locate.
First on the list: Get up path more than 3 points. If the longtime NBA sharpshooter has his way, the Lakers won’t be done 27th and 28th in 3-point attempt rate more. (Enter first-round pick Knecht, who shot 40 percent from distance at Tennessee last season while hitting more than 12 triples per 100 possessions.)
Another potential pick? Tilt the possession game. LA finished last season 29th in offensive rebound rate And dead last for second chance points; a schematic evolution towards more opportunistic crashes could bear fruit. (A healthy Jarred Vanderbilt might help. He is still recovering from several off-season foot surgeries; his return date remains uncertain.)
There is a version of the Lakers that fields a high-level starting five, gets growth from its young pieces and better health from its complementary veterans, extracts more productivity from the sidelines. And gets top-10 performances from his franchise cornerstones. This, as Hachimura said said at the start of camp“is a team that can win everything.”
It’s also a terribly optimistic view. Perhaps that’s why the sport’s elder statesman struck a more sober note.
“I have no expectations,” James said. “And it’s unfair to put expectations on each other right now. The only thing we can count on for each other is how we train and come to work every day.”
Best screenplay
Redick injects newfound creativity and stability, resulting in a roster capable of being more than just the sum of its parts. A ” authorized “ AD finally gets his Defensive Player of the Year award and returns to the MVP ballot. After a recall of ups and downs in his breakthrough season, Reaves became a consistent 20-point scorer and high-efficiency pick-and-roll playmaker, earning All-Star consideration. Russell either finishes out his contract year or becomes the corresponding salary ballast that allows general manager Rob Pelinka – who recently said he’s willing to put the team’s first-round picks in 2029 and 2031 on the table . in a deal he said would help ensure “enduring Laker excellence” – to pull the trigger on something big. The bet pays off. Top 50 Lakers win for first time since bubble title. And LeBron and AD have another chance to prove that their partnership is still powerful enough to reach the promised land.
If everything collapses
Father Time is finally coming for LeBron, and Davis can’t elevate his game enough to compensate. Russell, Reaves and Rui stagnate; young people are not obvious; Vando and Gabe Vincent won’t save you. Pelinka takes a look at another disappointing 30+ game slate and decides that discretion is the better part of valor, preferring not to throw good draft picks after bad ones. Redick would have liked to continue calling games with Doris and streaming podcasts with Nekias and Steveas his best-laid plans founder on the rocks of the dual realities of a roster that doesn’t have enough talent and a Western Conference that has tons.
Fantastic filming
Has Redick already transformed the Lakers into a fantastic team? It looks that way, as their starting unit looks rejuvenated and motivated under Redick’s offensive schemes. Redick also admitted that he wanted to lead a nine-player rotationbut it could come down to eight sometimes.
Davis will be a mid-first-round pick, while James, the oldest player in the league, keeps him as a late-second and early-third-round pick. I would expect both to be played before the middle of the second round for points leagues.
Russell’s ADP is trending towards a respectable price in the seventh round. Reaves, however, is down despite having a career year. His ADP might be misjudged at 86th overall. Hachimura is not a must-play player, and it will take an injury for Christie to come off waivers. —Dan Titus
Calendar 2024-25
The Lakers won 47 last season, with LeBron and AD missing just 17 games total, the fewest since the bubble title, and combining to play more than 5,200 minutes, by far the most of their shared mandate in Los Angeles. Which seems more likely: that health, availability and productivity will continue, or at least a slight decline in one, if not both? The latter, I think – which, in a tougher conference from top to bottom, seems like a good reason to go for broke.
