Realistic Expectations

[tv24lakers]

With the recent pickups I think our 2019/2020 lineup is largely set.

While I'm hopeful of some future pickups, I do not see much in the way of cap room flexibility to pickup or trade for more inspiring assets. As it stands the lineup seemingly is going to mix of the talent displayed below.

What do you feel are reasonable expectations for the assembly below? & Roster aside, what do you feel are reasonable expectations for the FO this coming season?

PG A Curoso, R Rondo, Q Cook
SG D Green, KC Pope, A Bradley, T Dudley
SF L James, J Dudley
PF A Davis, K Kuzma
C J McGee, D Cousins

Personally, I question if this team makes it past the second round of the playoffs. I hope I am wrong.

Unquestionably there is a great deal of pressure on Rob to have a successful season given the high stakes gamble taken by trading away our young talents and future picks for AD. Now, is it unreasonable to ask that anything short of Western Conference Finals may lead to expulsion? IMO if we fall short of the WCF, Jeannie will have a FO vacancy to fill before the start of next offseason.

[Texas_Lakers]

When you have 2 of the best players in the league anything is possible, LeBron and AD will play with vengeance in mind. if DC is anywhere close to 80% of his own self, we will be very pleased with him and the pieces we picked up. If we could somehow manage to get Iggy that could tip the scales to our favor. Having said that, I expect the Lakers to be a top 4 team in the west.

[Ball so hard]

We need some stability in our front office. It would be a mistake to fire Rob after what would've been only 1 year at the helm. I don't count the season in which Magic was our president.

[Mamba Mentality]

When you have 2 of the best players in the league anything is possible, LeBron and AD will play with vengeance in mind. if DC is anywhere close to 80% of his own self, we will be very pleased with him and the pieces we picked up. If we could somehow manage to get Iggy that could tip the scales to our favor. Having said that, I expect the Lakers to be a top 4 team in the west.

As crazy as it sounds a 35 year Iggy really might just be the missing piece to this puzzle. He'd give us another guy who can defend on the perimeter and create for others, and he just flat out shows up in the biggest moments...I'd hate to face a Lakers death lineup of LeBron/Green/Iguodala/Kuzma/Davis at the end of games. The length and versatility of that group would create havoc.

Without Iggy, 4-6 seed, 2nd round floor
With Iggy, 3-5 seed, WCF floor with championship aspirations

Pretty much have high expectations whichever way you want to look at it.

At the end of the day injuries will write the story for this team. If Lebron and AD can get through the regular season relatively unscathed we're going to be a really dangerous team.

[JVL]

My realistic expectation is a 6th seed and a 2nd round floor. My ambitious expectation is a 3rd seed and a ring.

The FO needs to portray stability and competence next season. The circus act has to end, it's become a negative factor in player recruitment.

[iamworthy]

Don't really care about regular season. I expect to be in the finals. LeBron has managed to become underrated.

[No-Man]

Realistic expectations to me are that health permitting you should be fighting to get to the NBA Finals with Houston and the Clippers, I'd say that losing in the WCF, or basically getting to the WCF is a realistic ask

I sure hope that the rotation kinda looks like;

Bradley-Caruso
Green-KCP
James-Dudley
Davis-Kuzma
McGee-Cousins

the other are more depth pieces for the Regular Season than anything else

[tv24lakers]

We need some stability in our front office. It would be a mistake to fire Rob after what would've been only 1 year at the helm. I don't count the season in which Magic was our president.

You're right it may seem rash to give up on Rob so early. That said if AD does not re-up that is an immediate reason for termination, giving all that we sacrificed to get him here.

[RamonSessions7]

I think Utah and Houston are gonna be toughest for us. Philly is a tough matchup. We could beat any team as long as we remain healthy. I’d say 3rd seed is a solid projection.

[Landsberger]

A lot of variables with this team. Health, fit and coaching are all brand new so it may take a while to get in a rhythm as a team. Seeding is important and I expect that if we have health we could be toward the top of the West if not at the top. Houston is the only team coming back mostly in tact I believe. Utah could gel into a very good team and Denver could take a step in either direction. GS has lost the ability to score inside the arc which will put a lot of pressure on an aging Curry to carry them. Portland has got size and the Clippers are unknown like us but should be good. I don't see a way you can truly handicap the West at this point. By mid December we will see how all the changes have worked for us and our competition.

That said, I feel like we can be a second/third seed at the floor if we're healthy. Once there anything is possible.

[Spanish_Laker]

4th seed regular season. Finals bound.

Of course everything depends on injuries. If we can finally catch a break and have a healthy season, it is over for the league.

[tv24lakers]

A lot of variables with this team. Health, fit and coaching are all brand new so it may take a while to get in a rhythm as a team. Seeding is important and I expect that if we have health we could be toward the top of the West if not at the top. Houston is the only team coming back mostly in tact I believe. Utah could gel into a very good team and Denver could take a step in either direction. GS has lost the ability to score inside the arc which will put a lot of pressure on an aging Curry to carry them. Portland has got size and the Clippers are unknown like us but should be good. I don't see a way you can truly handicap the West at this point. By mid December we will see how all the changes have worked for us and our competition.

That said, I feel like we can be a second/third seed at the floor if we're healthy. Once there anything is possible.

GS losing Iggy and Durand this offseason and Klay to injury are setbacks. However, they did rebound nicely by picking up a few new decent assets...D Russell, Willie Cauley-Stein (WCS) & Alec Burks. Russell should offer Curry some spacing until Klay returns and WCS offers them some agility with a bigger lineup. I know a lot of people are counting them out, but I think they're still a top 4/5 seed in the West.


Purely conjecture; here is my take on the Western Conference rankings at the end of next season.
1. Denver
2. Clippers
3. Jazz
4. Portland
5. GSW
6. Lakers
7. Rockets
8. Spurs

[myersia]

I believe somewhere between 1st-3rd in West. Champions if healthy.

[Beethoven]

Championship banner is realistic.

[Spanish_Laker]

A lot of variables with this team. Health, fit and coaching are all brand new so it may take a while to get in a rhythm as a team. Seeding is important and I expect that if we have health we could be toward the top of the West if not at the top. Houston is the only team coming back mostly in tact I believe. Utah could gel into a very good team and Denver could take a step in either direction. GS has lost the ability to score inside the arc which will put a lot of pressure on an aging Curry to carry them. Portland has got size and the Clippers are unknown like us but should be good. I don't see a way you can truly handicap the West at this point. By mid December we will see how all the changes have worked for us and our competition.

That said, I feel like we can be a second/third seed at the floor if we're healthy. Once there anything is possible.

GS losing Iggy and Durand this offseason and Klay to injury are setbacks. However, they did rebound nicely by picking up a few new decent assets...D Russell, Willie Cauley-Stein (WCS) & Alec Burks. Russell should offer Curry some spacing until Klay returns and WCS offers them some agility with a bigger lineup. I know a lot of people are counting them out, but I think they're still a top 4/5 seed in the West.


Purely conjecture; here is my take on the Western Conference rankings at the end of next season.
1. Denver
2. Clippers
3. Jazz
4. Portland
5. GSW
6. Lakers
7. Rockets
8. Spurs

In which world are the Warriors, Blazers, Jazz over the Lakers in the standings?

[Whopper_Sr]

Championship, of course.

Who is going to stop them barring injuries?

Clippers: No playmaker, predictable offense, no one to stop Davis or even Cousins. I think Leonard is getting severely overrated these days.
Jazz: Gobert's PnR defense gets heavily exposed vs. James-Davis PnR. Also no wing defenders.
Blazers: Perennial WCF-capped team. It's easy to stop a team led by two small guards. I like Nurkic though.
Nuggets: Not ready yet. The Grant addition is nice but Jokic can also be exploited in the PnR. They need to consolidate their depth into a Bradley Beal type player to make the next step.
Warriors: Lost Durant, Iguodala, and no Thompson until likely the ASB. Plus James has already figured them out.
Rockets: Internal turmoil. Guard Harden like how the Bucks did and let him settle for floaters all game.
Spurs: Simply not enough talent. 2nd round at best for them. Lakers would sweep them.

During the regular season, I don't see the Lakers nabbing the top seed but like other posters have said, 3rd seed sounds the most reasonable. The West will be so close from 1-7 so some bad luck may push them down to about 6 but in the playoffs, I trust James more than anyone by a large margin. So HCA is pretty much moot for this team.

If they can land Iguodala or Korver (or both), they're near locks to win it all. Out in the East, the 76ers are probably their biggest threat but not enough of one to seriously challenge the Lakers.

I fully expect them to go all the way this upcoming season and defend their title in 2021, depending on how the off-season goes in 2020.

[mighty_duck]

In which world are the Warriors, Blazers, Jazz over the Lakers in the standings?

The Blazers are a very good regular season team.
The Jazz are going to be dangerous this year, Conley gives them everything they were missing to make that extra step.
I'd replace GSW with Houston, who was the best team in the regular season last year after the ASG.

And that is how we could wind up in 6th place, even without injuries.

This isn't a fantasy league - we are working in a lot of new players, and a whole new coaching squad. Expect a lot of bumps early on.

If everything gels just right, we could overtake all of those teams and finish 2-3.
I expect something in the middle - 4th place sounds about right.

[KL78192020]

I think Cousins will be a beast next year, he only just came back in January. Plus he had great chemistry with Rondo and AD in NO. Its all a question of rest, do the lakers rest LBJ and AD in a season? Clips for sure will have to rest Kawhi, he won't play more than 60 games and if he doesn't odds are he gets injured. His quad injury is ongoing.

[zimpy27]

If this team can beat the Clippers then they will win the championship.

Realistic is that they lose to the Clippers in whatever round they face them. Regular season seeding will sort that out.

If they don't have to beat a healthy clipper team then a championship is realistic.

[Pythagoras]

[quote="iamworthy"]Don't really care about regular season. I expect to be in the finals. LeBron has managed to become underrated.[/quote]

Agreed on all points. That said I do think this team easily cruises to 50+ wins. We’re really damn good.