Los Angeles Lakers: 3 takeaways from 2019 NBA offseason

1. The Los Angeles Lakers are not title favorites

No one can argue that the 2019-20 Los Angeles Lakers are worse than last year’s team, and they should be a virtual lock to make the postseason. They have two top-seven players, one firmly in his prime and the other one of the five greatest players in the history of basketball.

The roster built around them makes sense to get into the postseason and be in the conversation for the title.

What fans of the Lakers don’t want to hear is they do not deserve at this moment to be title favorites, nor even in the top three.

That does not mean they could not win a title, because they have the star talent to do so, and no one should confidently bet against LeBron James in the postseason. Other teams are simply coming out of this summer in a stronger position.

The most obvious choice is in the opposite locker room, with the LA Clippers cashing in their cap space and assets to add Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to a roster that made the playoffs a year ago.

While the Lakers may win a comparison of stars, their rotation cannot stand up to the Clippers’ past the stars: Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, Patrick Beverly and Maurice Harkless are a step above.

Other Eastern Conference contenders are surer bets to make the Finals as well. The Milwaukee Bucks won 60 games and pushed the eventual champion Toronto Raptors hard last season.

They retain reigning-MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the core that was so successful last season, swapping out Malcolm Brogdon and Tony Snell for Wesley Matthews and Kyle Korver.

The Philadelphia 76ers may have one of the best defenses in NBA history, with Al Horford and Josh Richardson now in the fold alongside Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris. FiveThirtyEight’s CARM-Elo predictions have the 76ers as title favorites at this early junction.

The Western Conference has other potential title teams as well, from the Denver Nuggets adding Jerami Grant and a healthy Michael Porter Jr. to the Utah Jazz adding Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic.

The Houston Rockets made a big trade of their own, swapping Chris Paul for Russell Westbrook, and have been a title contender each of the past two years.

That doesn’t even mention the Golden State Warriors, who will have the trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green available for the postseason.

The Los Angeles Lakers should parlay a busy offseason into a season significantly more successful than last year’s, or honestly for much more than that. Will this year end in another banner raised to the rafters of one of the league’s most storied franchises?

While it’s not the most likely outcome, it is certainly possible. That hope has been missing from Los Angeles for quite some time, and Lakers fans are glad to see it return.