RealGM

The battle of LA. Both teams won 50 games last season and both teams made some significant additions this offseason.

Odds:
Lakers over or under 47.5 wins
Clippers over or under 48.5 wins

Clippers

I'm going with the Lakers. The Clippers are a damn nursing home right now and it would be a miracle if they could stay as healthy as they were last season, they resigned Batum and added Brook Lopez and Chris Paul to get even older.

The Lakers actually got lucky in the buyout market and found an upgrade at center which was their biggest hole last season, it won't hurt with Luka having a full offseason to process that trade and for the first time in years no international play so he can get fully healthy, he never looked quite right last season

HMFFL wrote:Odds:
Lakers over or under 47.5 wins
Clippers over or under 48.5 wins

We won 50 games last year and we're definitely better this year imo.

MrGoat wrote:I'm going with the Lakers. The Clippers are a damn nursing home right now and it would be a miracle if they could stay as healthy as they were last season, they resigned Batum and added Brook Lopez and Chris Paul to get even older.

The Lakers actually got lucky in the buyout market and found an upgrade at center which was their biggest hole last season, it won't hurt with Luka having a full offseason to process that trade and for the first time in years no international play so he can get fully healthy, he never looked quite right last season

His playing for Slovenia in August.

Clippers may be the nursing home, but their depth means they’re not as reliant on the oldest player in the league to stay healthy and available…

If LeBron goes down, it’s Luka and Reeves, and… Ayton? Smart?

Sofia wrote:Clippers may be the nursing home, but their depth means they’re not as reliant on the oldest player in the league to stay healthy and available…

If LeBron goes down, it’s Luka and Reeves, and… Ayton? Smart?

And when Kawahi and Beal go down, it's James, Zu, and... Collins? CP3?

Clippers will have more regular season wins but Lakers will go deeper in the playoffs.

JB2 wrote:

Sofia wrote:Clippers may be the nursing home, but their depth means they’re not as reliant on the oldest player in the league to stay healthy and available…

If LeBron goes down, it’s Luka and Reeves, and… Ayton? Smart?

And when Kawahi and Beal go down, it's James, Zu, and... Collins? CP3?

And when LeBron and Ayton go down it’s…

Are we at least gonna go equal number injuries here?

JB2 wrote:

Sofia wrote:Clippers may be the nursing home, but their depth means they’re not as reliant on the oldest player in the league to stay healthy and available…

If LeBron goes down, it’s Luka and Reeves, and… Ayton? Smart?

And when Kawahi and Beal go down, it's James, Zu, and... Collins? CP3?

James, Zu, & Collins can all average 20+ ppg if required. Efficiently and fitting well together. It's not a doomsday scenario in the slightest. Collins should thrive with such good playmaking (Harden, CP3) available.

Clippers, they are old, but every player has a starting level backup....
Zu/BroLo
Collins/Batum
Kawhi/DJJ
Beal/Bogi
Harden/CP3

They are short on forwards though...

Sofia wrote:

JB2 wrote:

Sofia wrote:Clippers may be the nursing home, but their depth means they’re not as reliant on the oldest player in the league to stay healthy and available…

If LeBron goes down, it’s Luka and Reeves, and… Ayton? Smart?

And when Kawahi and Beal go down, it's James, Zu, and... Collins? CP3?

And when LeBron and Ayton go down it’s…

Are we at least gonna go equal number injuries here?

Kawhi and Beal are much more likely to get injured long term than Lebron or Ayton, just look at all their histories

I'd bet $500 that Kawhi ends this season with injury. I'm not putting that bet on Lebron. Maybe he hurts an ankle or something but he can always come back.

Lakers will have more wins since Lakers are a younger team than the Clippers

I'm surprised this is even close

Please NBA ... Make this happen

1st round = Lakers vs Flippers, I mean Clippers = clean sweep
2nd round = Den
3rd round = Dallas If and only if healthy - ratings will sky rocket
Finals = Lakers/Knicks Lebronny on the big stage of NY, final year as Laker

Sofia wrote:

JB2 wrote:

Sofia wrote:Clippers may be the nursing home, but their depth means they’re not as reliant on the oldest player in the league to stay healthy and available…

If LeBron goes down, it’s Luka and Reeves, and… Ayton? Smart?

And when Kawahi and Beal go down, it's James, Zu, and... Collins? CP3?

And when LeBron and Ayton go down it’s…

Are we at least gonna go equal number injuries here?

Stating “when LeBron goes down” is a false premise. Compared to most other superstars of today, he’s sort of an Ironman. But sure we can play that game… If both and LeBron go down, the Lakers are in the world of hurt. Now what happens if the Clippers 2nd best player in Harden goes down? Kawhi is still not there. But lakers still have a top 3 player in the NBA.

Might have to go with the Clippers. The Clippers have better depth and a better front line.

Wouldn’t be surprised if the Lakers went further in the playoffs though. I don’t trust Harden and Kawhi holding up for a deep playoff run.

Clippers by a decent margin. Yes they're old but they're deep. Lakers depth is still awful.

HMFFL wrote:Odds:
Lakers over or under 47.5 wins
Clippers over or under 48.5 wins

I think it's a coin toss, and the odds reflect this. Both teams have improved in the offseason as well, should be a fun rivalry this year. Ayton was a huge pickup for the Lakers due to need, Clippers made some nice smaller changes.

We can speculate on which team is less likely to have significant injuries, but neither team is bulletproof and has high potential for variance. Clippers won 50 games last season with Kawhi only playing 37, OTOH he's the most likely to get hurt on either team.