Los Angeles Lakers: 3 candidates for a breakout season in 2018-19

With plenty of players poised for improved seasons, these are the Los Angeles Lakers’ three prime candidates to break out in 2018-19.

With a month away from the 2018-19 NBA regular season tipping off, there’s probably no place with as much buzz and intrigue as Hollywood with the Los Angeles Lakers. Most of the attention lies on the arrival of LeBron James, but with a quadrant of young players ready to take a leap, their development throughout the season could rival the LeBron saga.

Their four main young players that are set to occupy plenty of court time in the rotation are Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma. All four logged plenty of time when healthy a season ago, but staying on the court was a problem, with Ball, Ingram and Hart combining to miss 62 games (Kuzma missed five).

If their health can be maintained, all four of them will feel the benefits of playing alongside LeBron and the other veterans, such as Rajon Rondo. Narrowing down this list from four to three was pretty difficult. Two were locks, but deciding between the other pair of players almost came down to a coin flip.

I’m not overlooking the other youthful Lakers on the roster, such as Ivica Zubac and Moritz Wagner, but they — and the veterans on this team — aren’t in line for breakout seasons like the previously mentioned four. So, here are the top three candidates for breakout seasons on the Los Angeles Lakers.