It's time to be honest - the Lakers look great and are bonafide contenders

[Bornstellar]

This is a silly thread to make after beating a Spurs team with no PG while our best player had a terrible game and was in foul trouble all night which LA could have easily lost if SA had hit a few more free throws. Not to mention overall the game was terribly officiated and had the most foul calls since 1997. It's not like you guys beat the Thunder. Calling the Lakers a contender after eeking out a win at home against an injured Spurs team is just silly

On top of that, LAL has not even been fully healthy yet and we haven't seen what current LBJ looks like on this squad. Way too early to be calling them bonafide contenders

I agree with some of this, but eeking out a win against an injured spurs team when LA is also crushed with injuries is a bit rich

Hey man, I have to rationalize last night's loss for myself somehow

[Birth of the Cool]

Way too early to tell. Lakers every year lately are up & down. You can't judge them by this small window. If they are consistent and continue to win consistently and more comfortably and a guy like Reeves continues to put up his numbers with LeBron back, and Lakers are able to fit LeBron into their system then we can talk.

Right now they have way too many question marks - Reeves consistincy to play at high level / Ayton consistent high effort / how LeBron fits in the mix / Lukas health / bench play. Coaching and Luka high level of play seems to be their foundation but still a lot of question marks before we should annoit them contenders. So far they have looked good considering players they have missed already in the early season.

[tsherkin]

So, this is a classic early-season over-reaction thread. The Lakers are 9 games in, and their guys are hot. Like, unsustainably hot. Rui isn't going to end the season shooting over 47% from 3, nor are 4 of their starters going to be shooting 65%+ inside the arc by the end of the year. Reaves probably isn't going to be averaging over 31 ppg and 9 apg at the end of the season while shooting over 60% inside the arc and over 90% while leading the league with over 10 FTA/g (double what he was taking last year).

And that's before considering Lebron.

Beyond that, they've beaten the Wolves twice (a .500 team), the 3-5 Kings, the 3-6 Grizzlies, and the .500 Heat for 5 of their 7 wins. The only winning teams they've defeated are Portland and San Antonio.

So yeah, it's really more like "Calm Down O'Clock" on this one.

[Liam_Gallagher]

People were coping when they got DeAndre Ayton and Marcus Smart for free. This team won 50 games last year with Jaxson freakin' Hayes as their ONLY big on the entire roster. To think they wouldn't improve after getting those two hungry role players, is insane.

I get not knowing who LaRavia is, but them improving shouldn't be some shock. Add in MVP/fit Luka and it's pretty clear they're contenders.

[liquidswords]

Here's the thing about the West...

There's OKC and then there's everyone else not visible in the rear view. If the Lakers look great and are contenders, what does that mean? They win a round until they get to OKC?

[TheGeneral99]

Any team with Luka leading the helm will be a contender, nothing new. Did people forget what he did with the Mavs 2 years ago?

[SkyBill40]

Do they look good early on? Sure. Can they carry that through the All-Star break? We'll see. Will they be there at the end? Maybe.

The bottom line is that it is FAR too early to use less than 10 games played as a metric for prolonged success. As someone else pointed out, the Suns started last season 9-1 and looked equally sharp... and we see what happened there. This isn't all that different.

[Liam_Gallagher]

Here's the thing about the West...

There's OKC and then there's everyone else not visible in the rear view. If the Lakers look great and are contenders, what does that mean? They win a round until they get to OKC?

OKC is 8-1 and the Lakers are 7-2 while playing most of their games without their top players.

Are we sure OKC is guaranteed to beat the Lakers in a playoff series? How sure are you that SGA is better than Luka?

[HotRocks34]

Lakers have "it" this year and are better than the sum of their parts. I'm actually surprised because I didn't feel that way after the Warriors loss.

Still a long way to go but the outlook seems more promising than I thought it would be.

The new guys have been a huge help. Reaves is taking the next step and Luka is at peak level. They still have some roster shortcomings but they're making it work. Also Redick seems like he's getting better. He's smart, he just needs experience.

LeBron can chill now. That's good for him and the team. Reaves looks ready to be the #2 playmaker and so LBJ should be able to play off ball even more.

Hopefully Hayes will be playable in the postseason this time around.

[TheGeneral99]

Here's the thing about the West...

There's OKC and then there's everyone else not visible in the rear view. If the Lakers look great and are contenders, what does that mean? They win a round until they get to OKC?

OKC is 8-1 and the Lakers are 7-2 while playing most of their games without their top players.

Are we sure OKC is guaranteed to beat the Lakers in a playoff series? How sure are you that SGA is better than Luka?

Isn't OKC also missing their 2nd best player in Jalen Williams who was an all-star and all-NBA player last year?

[cgf]

Not sure anyone but the spurs will really be able to push OKC out west. I still think Minny has the ability when clicking to do it, but I’m not sure I believe in them to get it done over a 7 game series without shooting themselves in the foot.

Lakers defense leaves a lot to be desired in a potential OKC-threat.

[kobe_vs_jordan]

OKC and Houston look like the only contenders to me...
Houston don't even have chemistry, don't even have a Point Guard, and already look like champs!
It’s a question of genetics, Lakers just don't have the athleticism to match OKC and Houston.

Every KD led team has looked good on paper. Crowning a KD led team as champs seems insane lol

I know, that's why I watch them play, and Phoenix never looked like champs.

Have they beaten a team with a winning record? What’s their best win so far

Suns started 9 and 1 last year.

[kobe_vs_jordan]

Here's the thing about the West...

There's OKC and then there's everyone else not visible in the rear view. If the Lakers look great and are contenders, what does that mean? They win a round until they get to OKC?

OKC is 8-1 and the Lakers are 7-2 while playing most of their games without their top players.

Are we sure OKC is guaranteed to beat the Lakers in a playoff series? How sure are you that SGA is better than Luka?

Isn't OKC also missing their 2nd best player in Jalen Williams who was an all-star and all-NBA player last year?

Okc also elite defensively and net ratings with lakers lack

[JellosJigglin]

People were coping when they got DeAndre Ayton and Marcus Smart for free. This team won 50 games last year with Jaxson freakin' Hayes as their ONLY big on the entire roster. To think they wouldn't improve after getting those two hungry role players, is insane.

I get not knowing who LaRavia is, but them improving shouldn't be some shock. Add in MVP/fit Luka and it's pretty clear they're contenders.

We were saying this all summer but all realgm kept saying was "They lost DFS! They'll never recover"

Posters here were acting like DFS is some future hall of famer and perennial DPOY.

You can pick any one of the 3 of Ayton, LaRavia or Smart and they've each been an improvement over DFS. Getting all 3 of them has added depth that they were seriously lacking.

I still won't put them in contender status but they have been better than I expected when you consider all the injuries. I thought they'd be this good healthy, but not with their top guys missing so many games.

[The Servant]

Here's the thing about the West...

There's OKC and then there's everyone else not visible in the rear view. If the Lakers look great and are contenders, what does that mean? They win a round until they get to OKC?

OKC is 8-1 and the Lakers are 7-2 while playing most of their games without their top players.

Are we sure OKC is guaranteed to beat the Lakers in a playoff series? How sure are you that SGA is better than Luka?

I think its more about Chet, Jalen Williams, Caruso, Hartenstein, Cason Wallace, a deep bench, fit, historic defense and point differential, and team chemistry

v.s.

A hot start to the year where players are putting up unsustainable numbers

I never doubt Luka, anything is possible and OKC had two game 7s last year.

[MoneyTalks41890]

I think LA could get two games in a series with OKC.

[Raps in 4]

7-2 with a +3 point differential indicates they're getting lucky in their wins so far. We'll see if they improve as the year goes on, but the roster sucks on paper so I doubt it.

[tsherkin]

7-2 with a +3 point differential indicates they're getting lucky in their wins so far. We'll see if they improve as the year goes on, but the roster sucks on paper so I doubt it.

Beating up on a lot of mediocre teams, lost to the Blazers (so, 1-1 v POR so far) and the Warriors.

It's a great start, but it's nothing to be heading over to the Gen Board and crowing about after 9 games, for sure.

[tamaraw08]

All it takes is one serious injury to Luka and they are cooked. Having said that, they definitely playing way above my pre season expectations so far, JJ is really developing nicely as a young, if somewhat feisty coach.

Ayton seems like to have been a very good signing for them so far.

Curious to see the chemistry of the team once Lebron returns in a week or two.

Luka already missed 4 games, Lebron all 9 games so far and Reaves 2 games?
But okay, using your logic, can't you say the same thing with all the teams without their best players?
You think Denver, Boston, Bucks would not be cooked?

[SlimShady83]

Beating up on a lot of mediocre teams, lost to the Blazers (so, 1-1 v POR so far) and the Warriors.

Only lost to Blazers because we/Lakers only had Reaves and G-league, won't lose to them again unless injured again.
As for Warriors, I guess they just weren't prepared somehow lol.