NBA Team Preview:  Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers had an incredible offseason as they changed a lot of their roster after finishing seventh in the Western Conference last season with a 42-30 record. They were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Phoenix Suns in six games. 

Big Additions

The biggest addition to the Lakers was trading with the Washington Wizards for former MVP Russell Westbrook. They also were doing well in free agency as they were able to sign Carmelo Anthony, Trevor Ariza, Kent Bazemore, Wayne Ellington, Dwight Howard, DeAndre Jordan, Malik Monk, Kendrick Nunn, and Rajon Rondo all as free agents. 

Impactful Subtractions

The Los Angeles Lakers essentially cleaned house outside of LeBron James and Anthony Davis so it will be interesting to see how their chemistry works out. Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope were all traded to the Washington Wizards and Marc Gasol was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies to officially retire with his main team. 

Devontae Cook signed with the Brooklyn Nets, Alex Caruso signed with the Chicago Bulls, Andre Drummond signed with the Philadelphia 76ers, Ben McLemore signed with the Portland Trail Blazers, Markieff Morris signed with the Miami Heat, and Dennis Schroeder signed with the Boston Celtics. Jared Dudley announced his retirement while Wesley Matthews and Kostas Antetokounmpo are still unsigned as of this writing. 

Key Players 

The Los Angeles Lakers are going to go as far as LeBron James can lead them in his 19th NBA season. He finished last season averaging 25 points, 7.7 rebounds, 7.8 assists, 0.6 blocks, and 1.1 steals in 33.4 minutes per game. His counterpart is Anthony Davis who played 32.3 minutes and averaged 21.8 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.6 blocks, and 1.3 steals. 

Their numbers will decrease a bit as they add Russell Westbrook into this Big 3 but three MVP candidates on the same team are going to do that. It will just be interesting to see how they begin playing with one another. 

2021-22 Win Total Odds

The Los Angeles Lakers are currently tied for the third-highest win total in the NBA and tied for the most in the Western Conference with the Utah Jazz at 52.5 wins. I think the transition process with a new roster is going to be a little tougher as Westbrook is primarily moving the ball in his career and that has been LeBron’s thing to do on the Lakers. 

Los Angeles feels like a 45-50 win team as they work through issues early and then do some load management games where one or multiple stats sit out of games or are on minute restrictions. All in all, go with UNDER 52.5 wins.

* All odds provided by Action247 Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
**All views expressed are my own. My picks are my own and are not a guarantee, bet at your own risk.