No superteam, but Lakers favored to repeat
A mere 10 weeks ago, LeBron James was laying on his back in an arena concourse, with champagne in hand, cigar in mouth and mom on FaceTime.
The newly minted NBA Finals MVP had just led the Los Angeles Lakers to the championship inside the NBA’s bubble at Disney World, and he was celebrating to the best of his abilities given the unusual and isolating circumstances.
Thanks to a condensed offseason aimed at maximizing television review and returning the league’s schedule to its typical calendar, James and the Lakers have already picked themselves up and started their title defense in earnest. Their opening night tilt with the crosstown Clippers on Tuesday will launch a condensed 72game season that aims to crown a champion by July. After a nimble and proactive offseason, the Lakers enter the year as clear favorites to repeat. Beyond the champs, the title chase is anybody’s guess.
The Lakers bring back most of their key pieces, including James and Anthony Davis, and they appear more dynamic with the additions of Montrezl Harrell, Dennis Schroder, Marc Gasol and Wesley Matthews, plus the preseason emergence of second-year guard Talen Horton-Tucker. General manager Rob Pelinka has assembled a veteran-dominated rotation that goes two-deep at every position and has elite potential on both sides of the ball.
Even so, the Lakers aren’t quite a superteam like the 2017 Golden State Warriors, and their steady dominance will be difficult to replicate during a season compromised by the coronavirus pandemic. James and Davis enjoyed near perfect health last year, they didn’t face Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant or Stephen Curry in the playoffs, and the Miami Heat were struck by a rash of injuries in Game 1 of the Finals.
“I just want to do it again,” Davis said earlier this month after signing a five-year, $190 million contract. “You want to hold that trophy over and over and over. You get addicted to winning.”
The chase pack starts with Leonard’s Clippers, who replaced coach Doc Rivers with Tyronn Lue after a messy second-round exit. Chemistry concerns linger, but there is plenty of talent. Leonard and Paul George, who inked a four-year, $190 million extension, form a sensational wing duo, and Serge Ibaka arrived from the Toronto Raptors to replace Harrell. Lue can alternate between big and small lineups with help from Marcus Morris Sr., a bubble standout whose versatility landed him a four-year, $64 million payday.
Whether the Clippers can shake their reputation as playoff disappointments will boil down to Leonard and George, who must work together more effectively. Unlike last year, George enters the season at full health, which should enable the two forwards to develop a greater familiarity. George has spoken candidly about his un
even play in the postseason, and Leonard must raise his intensity level and overall impact in key playoff moments.
The franchise’s attempts to start fresh have been complicated by a $2.5 million lawsuit surrounding Leonard’s 2019 free agency decision. In the lawsuit, Johnny Wilkes — who claimed to be friends with Dennis Robertson, Leonard’s uncle — alleged that longtime executive Jerry West offered to pay for his help in steering Leonard to
the Clippers. The NBA said it will investigate the allegations, which the Clippers called “baseless” in a statement.
“That has nothing to do with me,” Leonard said Thursday after a preseason game. “Nobody swayed my mind to go somewhere. I’m from L.A. and I grew up here my whole life. Out here, people try to find any way to get some money.”
Like the Clippers, Antetokounmpo’s Bucks spent last sea
son as a top contender before coming up short in the playoffs. Over the last month, they celebrated two major victories: acquiring guard Jrue Holiday for a package of players and picks to provide much-needed backcourt stability and locking up Antetokounmpo to a record five-year, $228 million supermax extension. Re-signing the back-to-back MVP helped the Bucks skirt a year’s worth of distracting free agency speculation.
“It gave me a headache all summer,” Antetokounmpo said of the contract talk. “People asking me. People talking about me. I just wanted to be left alone. I knew what I wanted in my head. The goal is to win a championship here and I have the chance.”
Milwaukee addressed its highest priorities, but its rotation will look vastly different from the groups that earned the East’s top seed in 2019 and 2020. Seven of the Bucks’ top 12 rotation players have departed, thrusting thirdyear guard Donte DiVincenzo into a starting role that was supposed to belong to free agent target Bogdan Bogdanovic. While Holiday’s arrival should help lessen Antetokounmpo’s load, the Bucks might not have enough top-end talent or stylistic variability to reach their first Finals under coach Mike Budenholzer.
The most intriguing newcomers to the title conversation are the Brooklyn Nets, who welcome back Durant and Kyrie Irving from injuries. Durant scored effortlessly during the preseason after a 17month absence due to a torn Achilles’ tendon, raising hopes that the Nets might win a playoff series for the first time since 2014.
“I want to play at an elite level late into the season and the playoffs,” Durant said after his preseason debut, admitting that he was
“anxious [and] nervous” in his return to the court. “That’s when I want to play my best basketball, so I’m working toward that point.”
With a healthy Durant, Brooklyn could challenge for the league’s most efficient offense. If first-time coach Steve Nash wants to push the boundaries like the “Seven Seconds or Less” Phoenix Suns did years ago, he can play small and ultrafast by using Durant as his center and surrounding him with four shooters. Whether that group, or any Nets lineup, can hold up defensively remains to be seen. To reach their full potential, the Nets will need better consistency and focus from the enigmatic Irving, who struggled in a leading role over the past two seasons.
The Philadelphia 76ers, like the Nets, are aiming to climb into the East’s top tier. A humiliating firstround sweep led to the hiring of Rivers, who replaced the embattled Brett Brown, and President Daryl Morey. Trades for shooters Seth Curry and Danny Green imbued the 76ers with better spacing, but Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons must prove they possess the durability and cohesion required to lead a deep playoff run. Brooklyn and Philadelphia have both been linked to James Harden in trade rumors, and a blockbuster deal would surely shake up the conference standings.
There’s room at the table for Brooklyn and Philadelphia because three of the East’s final four teams all suffered roster hits this offseason. The Heat downgraded at forward from Jae Crowder to Moe Harkless and lost Derrick Jones Jr. in free agency. The Boston Celtics lost Gordon Hayward to the Charlotte Hornets, while guard Kemba Walker will be sidelined to start the season with a balky knee. The Raptors, finally, had to settle for modest replacements after losing Gasol and Ibaka.
Three smaller-market teams should factor into the West’s race. Denver, coming off a conference finals trip, lost Jerami Grant in free agency, but otherwise retained the bulk of a solid rotation built around Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. Utah is similarly deep after welcoming back Bojan Bogdanovic, who missed the playoffs because of injury, and inking Derrick Favors to aid stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. Portland fortified Damian Lillard’s supporting cast with an influx of talent that included Robert Covington, Jones Jr. and Enes Kanter.
The Lakers and their deep group of challengers all must contend with the health and schedule challenges posed by the coronavirus. At least 57 players tested positive across the league upon returning to their teams, and more are sure to follow as the NBA returns to playing in home arenas and traveling cross-country. Meanwhile, top teams must decide how to handle minutes distribution and workload with the quick turnaround from the bubble.
“We’re a marathon team,” James said, nodding to this season’s extraordinary challenges. “We understand that we’re not in a sprint.”