3 Thoughts On The 2016-17 Los Angeles Lakers

With the NBA season getting close, it’s time to take a look at what to expect from the teams around the league. Here are three thoughts about the 2016-17 Los Angeles Lakers.

The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the premier NBA franchises and one of the most historically renowned. Alongside the Boston Celtics, they form the legendary foundation of the league.

While the Celtics have 17 championships to the Lakers’ 16, it’s Los Angeles that has the most NBA Finals appearances: 31 in total.

The 2000s were good to the Lakers. With the triumvirate of Phil Jackson, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, the Lakers racked up the last three-peat of NBA history between 2000-02.

They added another two championships in 2009 and 2010, and Kobe Bryant solidified himself as debatably the greatest player in the post-Michael Jordan era.

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However, new challenges now await the team. Here are three concerns heading into the 2016-17 season

1. Who Can Replace Kobe Bryant?

To be clear, there’s no one who could ‘replace’ a generational player like Kobe. With his strength, outside shot, and clutch reputation, Bryant marked himself as one of the greatest players in NBA history. Kobe’s last few years were marked by injury and lower productivity.

Sadly, his contract also didn’t help the franchise stay competitive, but now the Lakers need players to step up.

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The use of Real-Plus Minus to predict the Lakers’ performance projects Los Angeles to win between 23 and 25 games. That places them at the very bottom of the league.

The Lakers are in a similar spot to the San Antonio Spurs, who lost their own legend in Tim Duncan, except they don’t have a Kawhi Leonard-type player to take control of the franchise.

The Lakers took Brandon Ingram with the second pick of the draft and hope his versatility will help. He’s long, with the potential to switch and guard three positions on the court. That will help the team defensively.

Offensively, he’s got an odd release point that’s hard to defend and has a good shot. He’s not the most gifted ball handler, which is something he’ll need to develop.

One of the difficulties of asking who can replace Kobe Bryant is that we know nobody can’t, and yet someone has to try. That’s going to fall on Ingram. It’s unfair to a rookie, and he’s going to have to rely on his team for support. That brings up another concern.

2. How Good is the Team?

To bolster their team, the Lakers signed Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng during the offseason. At the ages of 30 and 31, respectively, these are players who are at or past their prime. Mozgov is needs to protect the rim while Deng deals with the forwards of the league.

Both men will have to stay healthy and play to their peaks. The team seems optimistic though. New coach Luke Walton  believes the team will be good defensively, but the Lakers still have to score.

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Walton’s previous role as temporary head coach of the Warriors certainly makes him qualified to install a new offensive system. Still, the right personnel will be necessary.

If the Lakers can keep the ball moving and get open shots for players like Ingram, Jordan Clarkson, then they’ll get their opportunities to score. The Lakers have individual talent, and a good coach, but no one can say what that will create in the final product.

3. This Season is Impossible

The truth is, the Lakers have a new coach, a top rookie draft pick, young individual talents, and new incoming free agents. There is almost no way to tell how that will shake out when the team enters the regular season.

We don’t know how the team will transition from Kobe, we don’t know how well players (both rookies and free agents alike) will take to Walton’s system, and that makes it impossible to tell what this Lakers team will look like.

On the other hand, that’s kind of exciting. If you’re the type of Lakers fan who only considers a season successful when a trophy is won, then this probably isn’t the year for you. However, with all the new talent and personnel, this is the beginning of a new Lakers era.

Next: Los Angeles Lakers: 2016-17 Season Outlook

That’s exciting to think about.