The Los Angeles Lakers have three new starters on the roster this season. LeBron James decided to leave the franchise after eight seasons, completely ushering in a new era. Now, the Lakers are fully Luka Doncic’s team. He is the undisputed leader.
Heading into this season, LA has a lot of pressure to perform. With new ownership coming in, everyone in the front office is under the gun. GMs from other teams don’t believe that the moves the Lakers made will make a massive difference this year.
Lakers Predicted to Finish Sixth in the West by Rival GMs
Los Angeles is projected to finish sixth in the West according to other GMs in the league. NBA.com posted a survey from other GMs. They didn’t receive any votes to finish in the top three. They only received 10 percent of the vote to finish fourth in the conference.
The Spurs, Thunder, Timberwolves, Nuggets, and Rockets were predicted to finish ahead of LA. Doncic also didn’t receive any votes from GMs to possibly win the MVP this year. Without James on the roster, Doncic will be handling the ball even more, which gives him more of a chance to create his own shot.
Rob Pelinka is hoping that the moves he made give them a better finish than that. Walker Kessler was brought in via a sign-and-trade to help the defense. Pelinka gave him a $130 million contract, as well as trading multiple first-round picks. He needs to be an immediate impact player.
The Lakers were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs a year ago by the Thunder. Injuries played a major role in that. Doncic did not play in the postseason at all, while Austin Reaves missed most of the first round. It looks like GMs don’t have much faith in them.
Los Angeles Doesn’t Get Much Love From Rival Teams
Other GMs don’t see the vision that Pelinka has. Most don’t even believe that the Lakers will finish with a top-five offense, which is what the team is built around. The survey indicates that they are projected to finish sixth in offense this season.
If that ends up being the case, that could keep them from making a deep postseason run. Kessler is supposed to fix a defense that finished 20th a year ago. However, this team is clearly built around Doncic and Reaves’ ability to score the ball efficiently.
The Lakers aren’t going to be able to make many upgrades throughout the season. With all of the assets they sent out in the Kessler trade, they don’t have many left for the trade deadline. Essentially, the team starting out the season will be the one finishing it.
Perhaps that’s why GMs don’t love what Pelinka did this season. LA has to lean on its core three to do the majority of the damage.
GMs Give Lakers Surprising Prediction for Season Finish