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Through the first portion of the current NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers looked like the clear favorite to win the championship again. Well, the Brooklyn Nets decided to shake things up when they pulled off a blockbuster trade for James Harden. While they still might now have the best team, the Nets do have the league’s best trio in Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
The forming of a superteam in Brooklyn should make things much more interesting. The Lakers could have a legit threat in the Eastern Conference. Anthony Davis recently did an interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols and gave his thoughts on the Nets.
“They’re definitely a threat,” Davis said of the Nets. “They’re a team that can score at will. They’re a good team. I think they’re the favorites to win the East since [Harden] went over there. It’s gonna be a battle.”
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Can Nets Beat the Lakers?
With the addition of Harden to the Nets, they now have one of the most talented trios in NBA history. However, the three men are excellent offensive players but not great defenders. Durant is a good defensive player but he’s never made an All-Defensive team. Harden and Irving are objectively bad defenders.
The NBA is becoming more of an offensive league but defense becomes really important in the postseason. The Nets might end up having the best offensive team in the league but the Lakers have one of the best defensive teams. Los Angeles is currently only allowing 104.8 points a game, which is the second-best in the NBA. The Nets are averaging 119.8 points a game, which is tied with the Milwaukee Bucks for the best average in the league.
If the Lakers and Nets were to meet in the NBA Finals, it would certainly be an offense versus defense matchup. That said, the Lakers’ offense is still really good while the Nets’ defense is really bad. Los Angeles has a much more balanced team. It’s possible that Brooklyn gets hot and wins a title, but it’s still hard to see them beating LeBron James and Davis in a seven-game series.
Will Lakers Try to Form Their Own Superteam?
The Lakers have a really stacked roster right now. Davis and LeBron are obviously superstars but the team has been getting great production from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Alex Caruso, Dennis Schroder, Montrezl Harrell and more. The team isn’t as top-heavy this season but they have legit depth.
Despite that fact, the Lakers might still try to switch things up. Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the team is still interested in a trade for Washington Wizards superstar Bradley Beal. They’d have to give a ton to get him and it would certainly hurt the excellent depth they’ve built up. However, adding Beal would give the Lakers a big-three that’s every bit as good as what the Nets have put together in Brooklyn.
The Lakers don’t really need to pull off a big move but Beal is one of the best players in the NBA. Landing him would set the team up for success long past just this season.
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