There may be two months to go before training camp opens for the 2023-24 NBA season, but it isn’t too early to prognosticate about how the campaign will turn out.
Los Angeles Lakers fans are feeling optimistic after the team miraculously went from being stuck in mediocrity to championship contenders following multiple midseason trades. It retained all of its key free agents this summer, and it also addressed some other needs by adding 3-and-D forward Taurean Prince, gritty guard Gabe Vincent and bouncy center Jaxson Hayes.
The Lakers ended this past season by getting swept in the Western Conference Finals by the eventual NBA champion Denver Nuggets. There’s a feeling that had they gotten past Nikola Jokic and crew, they would’ve taken care of the Miami Heat in the next round and won it all.
Still, ESPN isn’t feeling the optimism. It put the Purple and Gold at No. 7 in its latest power rankings.
Via ESPN:
“‘I said over and over that continuity was going to be important,’ Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka said after L.A. managed to retain Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and D’Angelo Russell in free agency,” wrote Dave McMenamin. “After being swept in the conference finals, the Lakers are betting on last year’s core — plus solid if not splashy additions in Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Jaxson Hayes and Cam Reddish — to take the team to the next level.”
After going through some radical changes since winning it all in 2020, Los Angeles will finally have some continuity when it begins training camp in late September. It’s a quality that had been missing from the team over the last couple of years, and that alone should make it better than it was late last season.
