Los Angeles Lakers: How Kawhi Leonard’s move to the Clippers impacts the Lakers

1. The Lakers should still be very good

Don’t panic, Laker Nation.

While the whole Leonard situation was visibly nerve-wracking and ultimately frustrating for the Lakers fan base, don’t forget that there is still a lot to like about this team going into next season.

LeBron and Davis are still as good of a 1-2 punch as any in the league. Many would argue that they are two of the top five players in the world. Kyle Kuzma is also nothing to complain about as your No. 3 option.

The biggest key is Davis.

While his trade request and the ensuing drama with the New Orleans Pelicans dominated NBA headlines for a stretch of last season, Davis kind of fell off the radar as far as his status on the court. Chalk it up to injuries limiting him to just 56 games and the Pelicans missing the playoffs.

Davis still averaged 25.9 points, 12.0 rebounds, 2.4 blocks and 1.6 steals per game when he did play. He is arguably the most talented and productive big man in the league, someone who can contend for MVP and Defensive Player of the Year at the same time.

Kuzma should continue improving in his third pro season. He averaged 18.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last season and was one of the few Lakers who stayed relatively healthy as the team limped toward a surprising lottery finish.

There’s no reason to believe LeBron won’t jump right back into the “best player in the world” conversation that many critics eagerly erased his name from last season.

Dealing with a serious injury for the first time in his career and appearing in only 55 games, LeBron still averaged 27.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game and made the All-NBA Third Team.

The super-team dream might have fallen through. Leonard chose L.A., but he went with the red, white and blue instead of the purple and gold. But the Lakers are still very much in the NBA championship picture for 2019-20 and beyond.