Los Angeles Lakers: 3 goals for LeBron James in 2018-19

1. Reach the Western Conference Finals

The main goal for LeBron James still resides in his team’s success, and navigating the Western Conference playoffs will be an intriguing ride for all to watch. People think he will struggle with the advanced competition compared to the Eastern Conference, and this may hold true in the regular season. But would you really pick against LeBron in the playoffs with everything on the line against any team outside of the Golden State Warriors?

There’s a case for the Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz and maybe the Oklahoma City Thunder, if they can figure everything out, but I would stack up LeBron and these Lakers against anybody. A lot of the teams in this conference stayed stagnant or made subtle changes to their roster while the Lakers clearly retooled their roster for postseason success with Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson and (yes) JaVale McGee joining the mix.

The main aspect of why a Western Conference Finals appearance (and perhaps more) is attainable is the 2018 NBA Finals. Yes, the Cleveland Cavaliers were swept by the Golden State Warriors, but Game 1 was an instant classic and missed free throw away from having the Cavs go up 1-0. Game 2 was close until Golden State pulled away late. Game 3 was all Cavs until they went cold and barely lost, and Game 4 was a predictable one-sided affair.

That was LeBron James playing with Kevin Love and an old roster with limited athleticism. Put LeBron in a situation with shooting, speed, diverse playing styles, multiple ball-handlers, playoff experience and strong defense and I’ll take him in a seven-game series over most teams. This is LeBron’s ultimate goal for the 2018-19 NBA season, and one I don’t see him falling short of achieving.