Warriors Contender Scouting Report: Los Angeles Lakers
By Andrew Ites
The Warriors have faced LeBron James in each of the last four NBA Finals. Will they face him in the Western Conference Finals next season?
LeBron James’ move to Los Angeles might’ve created a new rival for the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors have become extremely familiar with LeBron over the past four championship series, and now they will play him at least four times a year as he joins the Pacific Division.
LeBron didn’t have a terrific supporting cast during his final year in Cleveland, but the new-look Lakers may be even worse than the 2017-18 Cavs.
Los Angeles has a solid young core consisting of Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Kyle Kuzma, and Brandon Ingram, but none of those players are quite capable of being quality starters on a championship team at this point of their careers.
The Lakers made some confusing free agent signings to add to their young core following the acquisition of LeBron.
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They signed Rajon Rondo, Michael Beasley, Lance Stephenson, and former Warrior JaVale McGee to fill out their roster.
None of those players provide the outside shooting that we usually see in LeBron’s role players. Rondo, Beasley and Stephenson all need the ball in their hands to be successful on offense, which would likely take away from LeBron’s touches.
The Lakers ranked third in the league in pace last season. However, James’ teams usually play at an average to below-average pace, so we’ll see how LeBron and head coach Luke Walton work that out next year.
While the offensive fit may be puzzling, L.A. should be solid on defense again after finishing 12th in defensive rating last season.
Next. Best Defensive Players in Golden State History. dark
LeBron will certainly elevate this team to the playoffs, but they may not be able to earn home-court advantage in the first round in a stacked Western Conference.
While Magic Johnson and company could make a blockbuster move to be legit championship contenders next offseason, I don’t think the Warriors should be particularly scared of this year’s edition of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Here are our scouting reports of some other possible contenders next season: