Are the lakers underrated?

[cgf]

No good bigs and no good two-way guys…unless Smart can turn back the clock…is tough to overcome.

[jkvonny]

What is considered underrated for the Lakers?

Anyhow, just in the West alone, as of now, barring major injuries. I could see OKC, Minnesota, Denver, LA Clippers, Houston, Memphis higher above the Lakers.

So the Lakers could be between 7-10 spot in the West along with Sacramento, Phoenix, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas, New Orleans , GSW jockeying for position. Final playoff spots or play ins.

That's just the West, which is deep.

There are teams in the East better than the Lakers too like Cleveland, Indiana, NY Knicks, etc

[Bob8]

58 win team

That'd mean they'd be a Top 3 team in the tough West. Lakers fans are delusional again. LOL

They were top 3 last year with Luka being pretty bad for his standards. I guess that was delusional too?

Truth is that besides Okc being the best team anything can happen in the West from 2-10. There will be some injuries, some trades before trade deadline, some disappointments...

About Lakers D. Mavs were in the WFC in 22, their 3 best players being Luka, Brunson, Dinwiddie and D. Powell as rim protector. Difficult to find on paper worse defensive lineup, but strangely enough that didn't matter much. There're different ways to win games in Nba, team with the best player has always chances to win. Suns had 64 wins season that year and all that didn't helped much, when Luka dominated them.

[Ryoga Hibiki]

What is considered underrated for the Lakers?

Anyhow, just in the West alone, as of now, barring major injuries. I could see OKC, Minnesota, Denver, LA Clippers, Houston, Memphis higher above the Lakers.

So the Lakers could be between 7-10 spot in the West along with Sacramento, Phoenix, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas, New Orleans jockeying for position. Final playoff spots or play ins.

That's just the West, which is deep.

There are teams in the East better than the Lakers too like Cleveland, Indiana, NY Knicks, etc

That's underrated

[Ryoga Hibiki]

What is their rating? Only Lakers fans consider them legit title contenders-- so on that end, they are overrated.

i think they are rated correctly-- maxed out as a low seed playoff team (5-6 seeds, if Luka is healthy, get another year off Bron, role players step up, etc) and 7-10 seeds or the play-in spots for most of the year as the minimum potential.

I suspect we lost a bit the perspective of what the impact of a healthy and in shape Luka, an MVP caliber player, might be.
Put 24 RS Luka on the 25 Lakers and they are very likely to get to the WCF.

[Memories]

What is considered underrated for the Lakers?

Anyhow, just in the West alone, as of now, barring major injuries. I could see OKC, Minnesota, Denver, LA Clippers, Houston, Memphis higher above the Lakers.

So the Lakers could be between 7-10 spot in the West along with Sacramento, Phoenix, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas, New Orleans jockeying for position. Final playoff spots or play ins.

That's just the West, which is deep.

There are teams in the East better than the Lakers too like Cleveland, Indiana, NY Knicks, etc

Lakers were the 3rd seed last season without a Center. Lakers now made additions including Ayton.

They will be much better than 7-10 seed.

[jkvonny]

What is considered underrated for the Lakers?

Anyhow, just in the West alone, as of now, barring major injuries. I could see OKC, Minnesota, Denver, LA Clippers, Houston, Memphis higher above the Lakers.

So the Lakers could be between 7-10 spot in the West along with Sacramento, Phoenix, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas, New Orleans , GSW jockeying for position. Final playoff spots or play ins.

That's just the West, which is deep.

There are teams in the East better than the Lakers too like Cleveland, Indiana, NY Knicks, etc

That's underrated

7-10 is about right.

[Ryoga Hibiki]

What is considered underrated for the Lakers?

Anyhow, just in the West alone, as of now, barring major injuries. I could see OKC, Minnesota, Denver, LA Clippers, Houston, Memphis higher above the Lakers.

So the Lakers could be between 7-10 spot in the West along with Sacramento, Phoenix, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas, New Orleans jockeying for position. Final playoff spots or play ins.

That's just the West, which is deep.

There are teams in the East better than the Lakers too like Cleveland, Indiana, NY Knicks, etc

That's underrated

7-10 is about right.

I guess we'll find out in a few months.

[tsherkin]

I guess we'll find out in a few months.

We will, but that changes the tone of the conversation. The OP is about trying to say LA is being underrated while they swim in uncertainty and questions. This... isn't really the case. It doesn't preclude LA from being good during the 25-26 season, but there's no real reason to consider them "underrated" at this time.

Once the season starts and we start getting answers to some of those questions, then it will become a different conversation. We need to see how Lebron is performing, how Luka and Ayton perform. We need to see if they can get their bench to do... much of anything. We need to see what Reaves is doing. We need to see what their defense is like. And as we start getting answers to those things, the view of the team will naturally evolve in response.

[sfernald]

I thought for sure this was a parody thread but then found it was dead serious. Wtf.

Well i can play along.

They will win at minimum 70 games by adding a dominaton 20/10 finals center and a smart defensive player of year in the back court.

[manlisten]

I think their offense should be dominant with the starting lineup. I don't see how teams can guard them and they'll get a ton of easy buckets. Offensively they might have the best starting 5 in the league and that should carry them to 50+ wins. Defensively is another question and it will bite them in the playoffs but this team is built to run the regular season.

[Ryoga Hibiki]

I guess we'll find out in a few months.

We will, but that changes the tone of the conversation. The OP is about trying to say LA is being underrated while they swim in uncertainty and questions. This... isn't really the case. It doesn't preclude LA from being good during the 25-26 season, but there's no real reason to consider them "underrated" at this time.

Once the season starts and we start getting answers to some of those questions, then it will become a different conversation. We need to see how Lebron is performing, how Luka and Ayton perform. We need to see if they can get their bench to do... much of anything. We need to see what Reaves is doing. We need to see what their defense is like. And as we start getting answers to those things, the view of the team will naturally evolve in response.

I think I explained why I think they are underrated: I am expecting they will get a Luka similar to the one we saw in 24.
Considering they were a 50w team with all that happened, that's a massive boost that I don't think is being accounted for.
There is always a range when doing predictions. Health and fit issues can't be totally accounted for beforehand.
But imo Luka + that supporting cast will have a median outcome around 55w.

[tsherkin]

I think I explained why I think they are underrated: I am expecting they will get a Luka similar to the one we saw in 24.
Considering they were a 50w team with all that happened, that's a massive boost that I don't think is being accounted for.
There is always a range when doing predictions. Health and fit issues can't be totally accounted for beforehand.
But imo Luka + that supporting cast will have a median outcome around 55w.

I understand what you meant. As I said, I believe that the number of questions circling around the team makes it impossible for them to really be underrated at this point in the off-season, that's all. I certainly expect them to be better than they were last year, but I feel like people are in here implying that if you don't consider them a title favorite or otherwise a major contender right now, then they are underrated. And with that, I cannot agree.

[Ryoga Hibiki]

I think I explained why I think they are underrated: I am expecting they will get a Luka similar to the one we saw in 24.
Considering they were a 50w team with all that happened, that's a massive boost that I don't think is being accounted for.
There is always a range when doing predictions. Health and fit issues can't be totally accounted for beforehand.
But imo Luka + that supporting cast will have a median outcome around 55w.

I understand what you meant. As I said, I believe that the number of questions circling around the team makes it impossible for them to really be underrated at this point in the off-season, that's all. I certainly expect them to be better than they were last year, but I feel like people are in here implying that if you don't consider them a title favorite or otherwise a major contender right now, then they are underrated. And with that, I cannot agree.

the general discourse is 6-10.
that's the benchmark.
nobody suggested title favorite

[tsherkin]

the general discourse is 6-10.
that's the benchmark.
nobody suggested title favorite

Your OP literally discusses that they should be contending for the top spot in the league, man. What do you think that implies for the postseason?

[tamaraw08]

What is considered underrated for the Lakers?

Anyhow, just in the West alone, as of now, barring major injuries. I could see OKC, Minnesota, Denver, LA Clippers, Houston, Memphis higher above the Lakers.

So the Lakers could be between 7-10 spot in the West along with Sacramento, Phoenix, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas, New Orleans , GSW jockeying for position. Final playoff spots or play ins.

I'm not sure why Memphis, TWolves are ranked higher even the Clippers.
Memphis just lost their starting SG who gave them tough defense and his 19pts/6 rebs/5 assists and replaced him with player that really struggled last season.
TWolves never replaced the fast aging 37 yr old Conley, lost NAW never really had significant additions. Yes they did beat up a team with pretty much with no legit center but that team have addressed the hole.
Clippers added 3 aging guys, I love Lopez but it's not like that team badly need a Center, and Beal more known for missing games is replacing a younger guy that gave them 22pts/game.

[Jedi32]

What is considered underrated for the Lakers?

Anyhow, just in the West alone, as of now, barring major injuries. I could see OKC, Minnesota, Denver, LA Clippers, Houston, Memphis higher above the Lakers.

So the Lakers could be between 7-10 spot in the West along with Sacramento, Phoenix, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas, New Orleans jockeying for position. Final playoff spots or play ins.

That's just the West, which is deep.

There are teams in the East better than the Lakers too like Cleveland, Indiana, NY Knicks, etc

Lakers were the 3rd seed last season without a Center. Lakers now made additions including Ayton.

They will be much better than 7-10 seed.

Facts don't matter to those posting with blatant bias.

[tsherkin]

Facts don't matter to those posting with blatant bias.

I think this is probably a little bit of an odd take.

LA was a 50-win team last year. Yes, they were technically 3rd seed, but Denver and the Clippers were also 50-win teams, Minny won 49, and then both the Warriors and the Grizz were 48-win teams. And even the Rockets ahead of them were only a 52-win team.

There was no meaningful separation in the conference, and LA's major move has been to acquire Ayton.

Houston acquired KD. Denver has added Cameron Johnson, Jonas V and re-acquired Bruce Brown. OKC is still a thing and should have a healthy Chet. The Clippers may have more than half a season from Kawhi, and Zubac on an upswing, etc.

So in terms of substantive meaning, the fact that LA, tied with 2 other teams very close to 3 others, was 3rd seed doesn't really have a lot of weight to it because they didn't separate themselves in a fashion which means anything.

They haven't done anything to address their D, and there is the HOPE that Lebron maintains what he was doing this past season, but that is far from guaranteed.

Meantime, LA was 18-10 when Luka played, which is 52-win pace relative to their 50-win season. So the hope is that he's playing so much better that they improve enough to outpace Houston and somehow challenge OKC, which seems unlikely, particularly as an average-ish defense with a weak bench.

It shouldn't be surprising that people have doubts about this team. Skinny Luka might be awesome, it's possible, but there are still a lot of questions about this team, and a lot of other teams which are knocking on a similar door.

[ConSarnit]

I can’t really see anyone who was behind them last year really making up the ground (maybe SAS depending on how many games Wemby plays). The teams that I would think are inline for improvement are the ones that were above/with the Lakers. I don’t think MIN or MEM really improved. GSW won’t push too hard to protect Steph and Butler. No one else is any threat at all.

I would think they finish 4th-5th in the West.

[manlisten]

I think this is probably a little bit of an odd take.

LA was a 50-win team last year. Yes, they were technically 3rd seed, but Denver and the Clippers were also 50-win teams, Minny won 49, and then both the Warriors and the Grizz were 48-win teams. And even the Rockets ahead of them were only a 52-win team.

There was no meaningful separation in the conference, and LA's major move has been to acquire Ayton.

This is a conclusion that lacks perspective. The reason the Lakers were the 3rd seed instead of the other teams you mentioned is because the Lakers were able to keep those teams beneath them down the stretch of the season when everyone was fighting for position. You're kind of dismissing it as chance but the Lakers beat Minny, Memphis and had multiple wins against Denver/LAC/Houston post All Star. It's not just a technicality or random chance, the seeding was a game of inches and the Lakers earned the 3rd seed by outplaying several teams who wanted positioning just as bad as anyone. So yes, that is substantive and it does hold weight. In the context of the regular season, those head to head games are key matchups and the Lakers responded when the competition didn't.

Also Ayton isn't just a minor upgrade. He's replacing Jaxson Hayes in the starting lineup who is almost completely inept offensively and on the glass. Not saying Ayton is a juggernaut but compared to Hayes he's like swapping Kwame Brown for Pau Gasol in terms of the impact he will have on the offense.