The Los Angeles Lakers head into the 2023-24 season with championship expectations following an unexpected appearance in the Western Conference Finals this past postseason.
The Lakers started the 2022-23 campaign in a hole but managed to turn things around post-trade deadline to become one of the best teams in the NBA. Now, Los Angeles has the roster and foundation to make another legitimate run at a title.
This summer, the front office made it a priority to sign tough-minded, defensive-first players who would fit the identity that Darvin Ham has worked to instill. The team looks solid on paper, but Rob Pelinka did reveal that they’re looking into signing one more center to play next to Anthony Davis in order to replicate their success in 2020.
When it comes to that 2020 title team, Los Angeles had everything from their two stars playing up to their ceiling and a deep supporting cast that was able to come through when called upon. For that reason, Kyle Kuzma believes that championship squad is the better than the ones that have followed, via his Twitter account:
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— kuz (@kylekuzma) July 15, 2023
The Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors and most recently the Denver Nuggets all had the same ingredients the Lakers did when they won their respective titles, though they didn’t have a superstar tandem like LeBron James and Davis. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic are just as good as anybody in the league, but their running mates don’t come close to the talent that Davis is.
The depth and talent of the other teams’ role players does stack up well against Los Angeles’, but the purple and gold arguably went 10-deep in their rotation. Alongside Kuzma were Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Danny Green, Alex Caruso, Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard, Markieff Morris and JaVale McGee, all players who knew their role and executed them nearly to perfection.
This new iteration of the Lakers roster mirrors the 2020 team, but there is a lot of work to do to achieve the same success they enjoyed.
Kyle Kuzma laughs about Rob Pelinka’s comments about desire to keep young core together
Heading into the summer, Pelinka made it well known that the team’s intent was to keep their core of players together. They accomplished just that by re-signing Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura, ensuring they keep the chemistry and continuity going.
However, Pelinka’s comments drew a reaction from Kuzma who laughed about the part of keeping their core intact.
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