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In

^{Deandre Ayton (C)
Jake LaRavia (PF)
Marcus Smart (SG)
Nick Smith Jr (SG)}

Rookies

• Adou Thiero (PF) – Pick #36

Out

^{Dorian Finney-Smith (PF)
Jordan Goodwin (PG)
Shake Milton (SG)
Markieff Morris (PF)
Alex Len (C)}

Depth Chart

PG – Luka Doncic
SG – Austin Reaves
SF – Jarred Vanderbilt
F – LeBron James
C – Deandre Ayton
6th Man – Rui Hachimura
Rotation players – Jake LaRavia / Marcus Smart / Gabe Vincent / Bronny James / Dalton Knecht / Maxi Kleber / Jaxson Hayes

^{Los Angeles Lakers Profile}

Team Ceiling

Conference Finals – We have already seen Doncic take a bunch of role players to the NBA Finals. After his “summer shred” in Men’s Health, Doncic seems ready for this NBA season. Together with Reaves and LeBron, if he comes back soon, they can take this Lakers team to another Playoff run. Their ceiling is not in the NBA Finals because they depend too much on these 3 players.

Team Floor

1st Round – As mentioned, if Doncic or Reaves fail to stay healthy, they won’t reach much more than the 1st round. Reaves can put the team on his back during some regular season games, but not in the Playoffs. That’s Luka’s job.

X-Factor

Austin Reaves – 4 years / $54M contract for this guy. Wow. Easily the best contract in the NBA right now. He’s proving he can do everything for this team while Luka is away during the first games of the season. Even though he won’t be a great superstar, he might be one of the best second options in the league right now. He already declined a 4 year $89M contract extension as of course he deserves much more. And he will prove it this season.

Bust

Deandre Ayton – For his cost for the Lakers – $16M, 2 years – he’s OK. But he’s far from what people expected. If you only look into his stats you might say he’s pretty good, but things are different when you see him playing. He sometimes gets so distracted while playing it’s frustating. Let’s see if Luka makes him look like a superstar as he did with Lively in Dallas.

Dark Horse

Dalton Knecht – Lights and shadows for Knecht. If he gets a good amount of playing time, improves his defense and fully trusts himself he can be an important player off the bench. Luka will clear a lot of space for him to shoot the basketball. This won’t be his breakout year – if he ever has one – but it’s a great opportunity for him to show that all the experience he brought from university can contribute to this Lakers team.

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All eyes are on LeBron right now, as he’s not playing because of sciatica. But he’s reportedly also monitoring the Lakers situation. Will he still play for the Lakers by the end of the season?

In any case, the Lakers should start having Luka as their 1st option and Reaves as 2nd. First, because they have deserved it. And second, because LeBron is almost 41 and it’s good for him that others start taking over the team. He can still be a leader but shouldn’t be the 2nd in usage for the Los Angeles Lakers. Last year he was at 29.1% in usage rate, while Reaves had 23%. This needs to be reversed so LeBron can rest, play more game sand eventually play all games during their Playoffs run.

In terms of other players, Marcus Smart is here to provide defense and intensity, along with Vanderbilt. Hachimura is a great option off the bench and hopefully the can count on Knecht and LaRavia off the bench to help this second unit.

But all eyes are still on LeBron. Will he shake the league again?