Well, they finally did it. After months of negotiations during the season, which led to a total shutdown of the team in a sense, the Los Angeles Lakers have traded their young core for New Orleans Pelicans superstar Anthony Davis. It seemed for a time that the Lakers would not acquire Davis, but have pulled off the unthinkable and acquired a second superstar to pair with the great LeBron James. With this addition, are the Lakers the favorites to win the title next year?
This is a tough one to answer and may take some time to see how the two players mesh together, along with the rest of the team. For now, they have a good shot at making it to the Finals next year, especially since the current NBA dynasty, the Golden State Warriors just lost the Finals a few days ago and most likely will disband most of their star players come next season. Even being the clear favorites in the tough Western Conference doesn't mean the Lakers have an easy ride if they make the Finals.
The Eastern Conference is slowly but surely making a comeback as the strongest conference, with teams like Milwaukee and Philly making strong runs to the Finals this year. The current champions, the Toronto Raptors, will be tough as well but may lose their key piece, Kawhi Leonard to free agency this summer, which would significantly hurt their repeat chances. Plus, Kawhi might be headed west to the other Los Angeles team, the Clippers, making it even more difficult for the Lakers to get to the Finals.
The West will surely be tough next year as well, with teams like Portland and Oklahoma City ready to make their push to the Finals with their star players. However, with LeBron and AD on the same team come next season, it's hard to imagine a better duo in the entire league. These two players surely can carry a team by themselves, as proven in the past. Putting them together is a for sure lethal combination and should put the league on notice that the Lakers are serious title contenders.
While these two players are special talents and can get the Lakers to the Finals, in all honesty, is there team complete? Not really when you take a hard look at their roster. After trading Lonzo Ball to get Davis, the Lakers are left without a point guard, the most important position in basketball today. I can't remember a time when a team didn't have a top 5 point guard and won the championship. It's a position that holds so much value in today's league and currently, the Lakers don't have one. So how do they fix this? Free agency.
The free agency pool this summer is absolutely loaded with talent, with players like Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and more joining the free agency market. There are also some markee point guards this year, with the likes of Kyrie Irving, former Laker DeAngelo Russell, and Kemba Walker becoming available on July 1. With the Lakers still holding one max contract spot in their salary cap, any one of these players could be and should be targeted by the Lakers this summer.
The most interesting one of them all is Kyrie Irving. A former teammate of LeBron in Cleveland, where they together won the title in 2016, and a player who is on record to say he wants to play with Davis, Irving makes the most sense for the Lakers to target. He is a generational talent at the point guard position, with exceptional ball handling skills and an all-around offensive game that can be lethal when paired with the other two superstars. Irving could be the final piece of forming a formidable title contender in LA.
So will the Lakers become the champions in 2020 and win the franchises 17th title? Only time will tell. Once free agency concludes and we have a better idea of how the league looks following, we can start our predictions for the upcoming season and see how good of a chance the Lakers have of winning the title. One thing is for certain though, the Lakers won this trade and made the first big splash of the hottest summer in NBA history. Buckle up kids, this is gong to be fun.
