Western conference teams Lakers will be better than

[dockingsched]

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1462460&start=180

Prediction thread on the GB has the Lakers in last place out west again, which I think goes against a lot of expectations of this fan base where 25-35 wins seems like a common prediction.

Without worrying about the actual number of wins, which of these western teams to the apparent surprise of their fan base will the Lakers be leapfrogging in the standings?

[Tee212]

lol why is utah so high up

[ArC_man]

I think we can be better than Sac and Denver. Phoenix might be bad too depending on health and New Orleans completely depends on the health of Anthony Davis to be even an average team.

[Spens1]

suns and kings.

kings moreso because of a lack of chemistry right now moreso than actual ability, they are good but losing rondo hurts a lot. suns also though they may suprise and make the playoffs also. if davis goes down then new orleans for sure.

[Spanish_Laker]

Suns, Pelicans, Kings, Nuggets, T'Wolves and Mavericks.

[SlimShady83]

7th or 8th seed in playoffs. Enough said

[NYCLaker]

None.

However, if I had to pick, team we had best chance beating record wise, it would be Kings and Suns. That being said, both the Kings and Suns are better.

Pelicans are an enigma though, everything depends on Davis.

Regarding the Kings, I think people are thinking of old Rondo, not current Rondo. Also, getting Joreger as coach was a huge upgrade to the team. Last season, the Kings were actually doing well, until internal turmoil with Karl.

[Doormatt]

I think we can be better than Sac and Denver. Phoenix might be bad too depending on health and New Orleans completely depends on the health of Anthony Davis to be even an average team.

Gallo is more valuable than anyone on our team, I highly doubt we finish ahead of them unless he gets another season ending injury again. Jokic, Chandler, and Faried are also better than any options we have at those respective positions. They are just flat out better, and they also have some interesting young players who could develop this season.

[NYCLaker]

I think we can be better than Sac and Denver. Phoenix might be bad too depending on health and New Orleans completely depends on the health of Anthony Davis to be even an average team.

Gallo is more valuable than anyone on our team, I highly doubt we finish ahead of them unless he gets another season ending injury again. Jokic, Chandler, and Faried are also better than any options we have at those respective positions. They are just flat out better, and they also have some interesting young players who could develop this season.

YEa, I was always big on Gary Harris back in Indiana and I think this season he will explode. He already has become a legit nba defender and was always a good shooter as well. Mundiay, I am not big on though

[VIPER8382]

The poll is flawed, it won't let me submit it with 0 selections

[dockingsched]

The poll is flawed, it won't let me submit it with 0 selections

Great point, poll reset

[crazyeights]

Aside from GSW, Spurs, and the Clippers I think the rest of the West is sort of flawed. Memphis and Portland should be solid, but they're not world beaters. OKC is a wildcard because who knows how they'll be without Durant and Westbrook unleashed. I think Houston will be there, but they've had a lot of changeover too.

Really depends on health, development, and chemistry, very few sure things right now.

I think we have a shot at being better teams than the Kings, Suns, Nuggets, and Pelicans, but even with that a lot would have to go right as almost every one of those teams look to have a better individual player than us. I can see us being on par with the Timberwolves and Utah if things go really well.

But again, so many variables. The homer in me wants to say we can win 40 games, but logically I think we're in more the 20s/low 30s.

Regardless I just hope we play uptempo, share the ball, and play with heart every single night.

[Kilroy]

I think the top of the West is in Chaos right now... Hard to say where teams are going to land. Last years performance is largely meaningless...
And honestly, the only team we're competing against right now is the Lakers... We need to keep our eyes on our own performance and focus on getting better every quarter at least until all star break. At that point, if we're better than some teams, so be it, but I think until then, we're all about figuring out who we are.

[TylersLakers]

1- Golden State (67 W)
2- San Antonio (62 W)
3- LA Clippers (60 W)
4- Portland (54 W)
5- Memphis (55 W)
6- Oklahoma City (50 W)
7- Utah (48 W)
8- Dallas (45 W)
9- Minnesota (42 W)
10- Houston (38 W)
11- Phoenix (36 W)
12- LA Lakers (34 W)
13- Denver (29 W)
14- New Orleans (28 W)
15- Sacramento (20 W)

[LAKESHOW]

Put it like this, who is the top collegiate prospect this year, i want to begin scouting them.

[crazyeights]

I think the top of the West is in Chaos right now... Hard to say where teams are going to land. Last years performance is largely meaningless...
And honestly, the only team we're competing against right now is the Lakers... We need to keep our eyes on our own performance and focus on getting better every quarter at least until all star break. At that point, if we're better than some teams, so be it, but I think until then, we're all about figuring out who we are.

Great post.

[Pointgod]

1- Golden State (67 W)
2- San Antonio (62 W)
3- LA Clippers (60 W)
4- Portland (54 W)
5- Memphis (55 W)
6- Oklahoma City (50 W)
7- Utah (48 W)
8- Dallas (45 W)
9- Minnesota (42 W)
10- Houston (38 W)
11- Phoenix (36 W)
12- LA Lakers (34 W)
13- Denver (29 W)
14- New Orleans (28 W)
15- Sacramento (20 W)

A 10 game improvement is pretty significant in the NBA. Doubling our win total is a huge stretch. The only team I could maybe see being worse than us is Sacramento if they completely implode and Cousins murders someone. Every other team was already better than us and adding Ingram, Deng and Mozgov isn't going to do much to move the needle.

[DEEP3CL]

A 10 game improvement is pretty significant in the NBA. Doubling our win total is a huge stretch.

It's not as an impossible feat as you may think. The Lakers have actually done this before in their history. They made a 13 game win improvement from a 47-35 record posted in 1978-79 to a 60-22 record in 79-80. The biggest jump in franchise history was 15 game win improvement from a 33-49 record in 1993-94 to 48-34 in 94-95.

The common denominator in each improvement was a coaching change prior to each improvement, hoping that omen works again.

[Kilroy]

A 10 game improvement is pretty significant in the NBA. Doubling our win total is a huge stretch.

It's not as an impossible feat as you may think. The Lakers have actually done this before in their history. They made a 13 game win improvement from a 47-35 record posted in 1978-79 to a 60-22 record in 79-80. The biggest jump in franchise history was 15 game win improvement from a 33-49 record in 1993-94 to 48-34 in 94-95.

The common denominator in each improvement was a coaching change prior to each improvement, hoping that omen works again.

Honestly think we have a chance to obliterate that this season... Because more than just a coaching change, we have a core that's developing and some solid vet talent coming in. It could be a perfect storm of factors.

[ArC_man]

I think we can be better than Sac and Denver. Phoenix might be bad too depending on health and New Orleans completely depends on the health of Anthony Davis to be even an average team.

Gallo is more valuable than anyone on our team, I highly doubt we finish ahead of them unless he gets another season ending injury again. Jokic, Chandler, and Faried are also better than any options we have at those respective positions. They are just flat out better, and they also have some interesting young players who could develop this season.

Denver has a couple of good young Cs, that's about it. Gallo is injury prone and doesn't play defense, Faried and Chandler are average impact players at best.

If Gallo plays 50 games we have a great chance at having a better record than them.