Los Angeles Lakers: 3 takeaways from 2019 NBA offseason

2. LeBron James and Anthony Davis will be back in the playoffs

One of the most disappointing developments of last season was LeBron James not competing for an NBA championship. After making the NBA Finals for eight straight seasons, James and the Los Angeles Lakers not only fell short of the Finals but missed the playoffs altogether.

Down in the Big Easy, another NBA superstar was suffering a similar fate. One year after taking another step in his growth as a player and winning his first playoff series, Anthony Davis saw his supporting cast crumble due to injury.

As the season progressed and the postseason looked out of reach, he made his move to force a trade out of New Orleans.

This offseason Davis is now on the Lakers, and together the two players will (barring catastrophic injury) propel the Lakers back to the playoffs. The front office this summer did what last year’s did not, adding role players around James who are complementary rather than redundant.

Players such as Danny Green, Quinn Cook and Jared Dudley are the right sort of offensive players to be maximized alongside James and Davis.

DeMarcus Cousins represents upside, the possibility of a player much better than his salary slot as he comes back from two lower body injuries in the past 18 months. Even if he is simply the player he was on the Golden State Warriors he can contribute to regular season wins.

The pairing of James and Davis and any role players should be enough for the playoffs, and with a smart roster built around them they should be playoff locks. Fans of James, Davis and the Lakers will see playoff basketball again.