The Los Angeles Lakers made several moves early in the offseason, and perhaps their biggest win was locking up Austin Reaves at a reasonable price.
They added Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Jaxson Hayes, and Cam Reddish and managed to re-sign D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura.
However, as satisfied as Rob Pelinka and some fans might be, NBA analyst Tim Bontemps believes they did nothing to push them closer to championship contention.
“The Lakers didn’t materially get better. … Everyone is acting like they had the greatest offseason of all time.”
—@TimBontemps pic.twitter.com/a4dA9L0dMJ
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) July 3, 2023
Bontemps adds that the only reason they got closer to the Denver Nuggets is that the latter got worse after losing Bruce Brown Jr. to the Indiana Pacers.
Other than that, they didn’t sign or trade for anyone who could move the needle and give them better odds of winning a championship.
That’s fair and true, but it’s not like the Lakers were first-round exits last season.
Despite the sweep, they were still quite close in all four games in the Western Conference Finals, and it’s not like they needed a lot more to get over the hump.
LeBron James looked gassed and out of stamina in the playoffs a couple of times, so managing his minutes will be key.
However, once again, it’ll all most likely depend on Anthony Davis and whether he’s finally going to bring in a consistent effort on both ends of the floor — especially offensively.
As for the supporting cast, they’re a deep team that proved to mesh together quite well last season, and they might still have another move or two up their sleeve.
NEXT: Skip Bayless Has A Strong Opinion About D'Angelo Russell's New Contract
