Fake Parity: Who is beating LAL/LAC/MIL?

[spikeslovechild]

The Nuggets and Rockets are better the LAL right now. I'd probably put the Trailblazers ahead too.

The LAC are the team to beat in the WEST the Bucks in the East. The thing is unlike years past where GSW just had more talent then everyone else it's easy to name 4-5 teams that could do it.

In the east the Sixers could easily knock MIL off their throne. The West is wide open the LAC are better sure but I could see them losing to the Trail Blazers, the Nuggets, the Rockets, or Warriors. You also have dark horses like Utah, the Mavericks, and the Lakers.

[LakerLegend]

LeBron is going to be 35 and the Lakers roster a mishmash of players who are largely castoffs or past their primes.

It's not a guarantee we're going to be a powerhouse.

[tayottt]

MIL shouldn’t be on the list. They’re “fake” championship contenders. Only good during the regular season and they lost Mirotic & Brogdon.

I think people forget that a young Bucks team was a bounce away from going up 3-0 against the champion Raptors.
The reason I put them as a contender is that they have a top five player in his prime and have constructed a roster that fits his talents. Their style of play is also very efficient on both ends. I think they’ll miss Brogdon, but I feel they can approximate his contributions elsewhere.

[GeorgeMarcus]

If Embiid is 100% and Simmons shows any signs of a jumpshot come playoff time, I love our chances against anyone.

Did you hear Tobias talking about Ben's 3pt shot in the presser today?

[levon]

I love how Lebron is the only one that's aging.

[Tor_Raps]

The disrespect towards Golden State.

Probably should have listed them beside Denver. It’s just such a huge defense and basketball IQ downgrade. They still could beat 3/4 of the 8 playoff teams in the West if healthy.

While Gstate might lose some more games in the Regular season because they lost quality depth, they will still be lethal come playoff time when rotations shorten. If healthy, their playoff rotation can be very comparable to their championship and 73 win teams (pre durant).

[tayottt]

The Nuggets and Rockets are better the LAL right now. I'd probably put the Trailblazers ahead too.

The LAC are the team to beat in the WEST the Bucks in the East. The thing is unlike years past where GSW just had more talent then everyone else it's easy to name 4-5 teams that could do it.

In the east the Sixers could easily knock MIL off their throne. The West is wide open the LAC are better sure but I could see them losing to the Trail Blazers, the Nuggets, the Rockets, or Warriors. You also have dark horses like Utah, the Mavericks, and the Lakers.

From a playoff basketball perspective how are DEN and HOU better than LAL?

What advantages do they have in a playoffs series?

In the case of DEN, I’ve watched ~75% of their games the past three years. I know them in and out. AD and Lebron have been killing them for years. I love the Nuggets but they just don’t have anybody to guard those two. I think they can score with the Lakers, but not enough to make up the gap in terms of top end talent.

The Rockets also have nothing for AD/Bron. I love PJ, but he has never stood a chance defensively against Lebron. The Lakers struggle mightily to defend Harden but with Russ serving as a dead body off ball I like my chances overloading Harden. I also think the KCP/Green/Bradley signings were purely to have multiple options on Harden.

My perspective is that we often talk about how wide open the league is until midway through the playoffs when the teams with top 5 players are magically playing each other in the finals.

[CallMeKahn]

3. Utah - They have a really good team that makes a lot of sense on both ends. They should win 55+ games, but they just don’t have a superstar. They’ve been able to beat the Thunder who had “two” superstars, but I think a lot of their postseason success is tied to whether or not the opposition can play Gobert off the court. When the opposition has a player who can hit threes out of the PnR easily Utah has no answer. Players like Curry and Harden give them fits and they have NO defensive personnel for the superstar wings (Bron/Kawhi/Giannis) right now. I think they are a tough out, but I can’t conceive of them winning it all.

There's a few things wrong with this.

1. Mitchell averaged approximately 27 ppg Jan thru April last year while posting some 46/45/82 after the break. Assuming trajectory holds, he'll be in that classification shortly. You can make the argument about Gobert being a top 20 player well. Utah is better with him on the floor then off offensively, is a two time reigning DPOY, and was 4th in VORP, 6th in overall Box Plus/Minus, and 1st in DBPM while being stupidly efficient offensively.

2. Utah generated a tuckfon of open looks in the Houston series last year, but no one connected. This allowed Houston to come in on Mitchell, which hampered Utah's offense even more. So Utah adds Conley, Bojan, and Green. They will also return Ingles, O'Neale, and Niang who were quiet efficient in that regard. Damn.

3. Ingles, O'Neale, and Mitchell are all very good defensively and more than capable of defending on the wings. You can't stop offensive dynamos from scoring, but you can make them work. As far as Gobert, he was much more efficient on the perimeter last year and switches happen all the time. Not really worried there.

Take it for what you will, but Utah's main problem was never Gobert being exposed on the perimeter or being able to stop PnR pick and pops. It was a lack of offense in crucial times. Ideally, Utah has rectified that this offseason.

[thebigbird]

Injury is reasonable to predict for the Lakers considering AD and Cousins are injury prone while LeBron is aging.

How is it reasonable to predict for the Lakers when George and Leonard are more injury prone than LeBron and Davis?

[Rockice_24]

LAL, MIL, and PHI are super overrated.

LAC looks like the best team but is certainly beatable too.

LAL has no floor spacing at all and LBJ finally started to break down last year so who knows if he'll be same old LBJ this year again. There depth sucks too

MIL literally just lost last year and isn't exactly much improved and PHI aren't some world beaters either. BK and INDY this year could give them a run for the East. Both teams have go to scorers and excellently balanced rosters. Maybe even a BOS or TOR too.

As for the West it's just flat out murder's row this year. It's crazy to think LAC, LAL, Utah, HOU, GS, DEN, are all locked and loaded this season.

[LightTheBeam]

The fact that you mentioned 3 teams already suggests theres more parity than before. GS was hands down favorites 3 years straight and barring injury who knows what happens.

But to your point, you absolutely need to put Philly and Houston in the convo.

[Tony Franciosa]

If Embiid is 100% and Simmons shows any signs of a jumpshot come playoff time, I love our chances against anyone.

Did you hear Tobias talking about Ben's 3pt shot in the presser today?

I hope his teammates can ridicule him into taking them in-game.

[Darth Celtic]

Raptors had 0 chance to win a title last year, until 2 superstars went out for the Warriors. You still play the games. Who knows.

[5playersnot1]

Who was supposed to beat the 2018/19 Golden State Warriors with KD, Steph, Klay, Dray, Cousins - 3 hall of famers and 5 all stars?

The Raptors are the 2018/19 Champions.

Not sure how you can say there is a true favorite this year with the looks of Philly, Bucks, Rockets, Clips, LAL, Nuggest, Blazers all looking strong.

Even teams like the Raps (17-5 without Kawahi), Pacers, Jazz, Boston, etc are going to be good, with potential for upside growth.

Next year will be a blast. So many story lines to follow and so much potential for exciting outlier type events. Which teams will mesh, which will implode. Which young guy will take that next step. I'm excited. Can't wait.

[GeorgeMarcus]

If Embiid is 100% and Simmons shows any signs of a jumpshot come playoff time, I love our chances against anyone.

Did you hear Tobias talking about Ben's 3pt shot in the presser today?

I hope his teammates can ridicule him into taking them in-game.

Maybe encourage rather than ridicule but I get your point Ben said it was a priority this summer, so to hear Tobias sort of validate that was nice. I'm expecting definitive progress from his jump shot this year.

[SwatLakeCity527]

The fact that the thread topic isn't "Who is beating GSW?" means that there is more parity than there has been in the last 3 years.

[LakerLegend]

I love how Lebron is the only one that's aging.

Which other team relies as much on a 35 year old player that has as much mileage as him?

[Official]

I love how Lebron is the only one that's aging.

Which other team relies as much on a 35 year old player that has as much mileage as him?

Who is going to play more games next year Lebron or Leonard?

[levon]

I love how Lebron is the only one that's aging.

Which other team relies as much on a 35 year old player that has as much mileage as him?

That guy put up 27 8 8 in a career worst spacing. He put up 50 in the Finals a year prior. He's not just "a 35 year old player". And he missed about as much games as Kawhi.

[teke184]

Injury is reasonable to predict for the Lakers considering AD and Cousins are injury prone while LeBron is aging.

How is it reasonable to predict for the Lakers when George and Leonard are more injury prone than LeBron and Davis?

Davis is made of glass. Chronic nagging injuries throughout his career which have made him miss games or leave during games not to return.

George broke his leg once and recovered, so that was a one-off. A broken bone doesn't tend to be a re-occurring issue unlike knee problems or foot problems for a big man.

Kawhi is another discussion entirely, but load management seems to have controlled that.


Part of why I think it is more reasonable to predict them for the Lakers is simply because the Clippers have a good enough supporting cast that they can manage minutes for PG13 and Kawhi as not to put too much wear on them.

The Lakers? That roster is a mess between over-the-hill guys like Rondo and Dudley and guys like Cousins who are a shell of what they used to be. Any "load management" games that AD and LeBron skip would have to be against teams like the Hornets and they still have a decent chance of losing.