LOS ANGELES – As the Los Angeles Lakers prepare for the start of the 2021-2022 season, they are faced with many questions and some doubt especially after a winless preseason going 0-6.
Most of those issues have to do with age, durability, and health; all of which are valid concerns but in what will be another hyper-competitive season in the Western Conference, chemistry could be a bigger concern. More specifically, how will this veteran group mesh together for the Lakers?
For the third straight season, the Lakers overhauled their roster and this time only brought back three players in LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Talen Horton-Tucker from the 2020-2021 squad. They signed many ex-Lakers role players on one-year deals and acquired future Hall of Famers in Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony, the talent is there to be a championship contender again this year.
However, this year it could take a while for that chemistry to fully develop with all the new faces and guys needing time to gel and figure out their roles. It’s not even just for the offense. Head coach Frank Vogel, a defensive-minded head coach, will need to find lineups that are also capable of playing solid team defense.
The Lakers ranked as one of the league’s best defensive teams the past two years under Vogel, and it has been a pillar of their success. While Davis, Dwight Howard, and DeAndre Jordan will patrol the paint blocking and altering shots, perimeter defense could be the concern with specialists Alex Caruso and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope now gone.
Fan favorite and defensive-minded wing Trevor Ariza will be unavailable until December recovering from ankle surgery and Horton-Tucker also will be out until November recovering from thumb surgery to repair torn ligaments.
That will put pressure on other vets like Kent Bazemore and recently signed Avery Bradley to hound the opposing team’s best wings on most nights. It could also mean Westbrook and James need to take on tougher defensive assignments.
The dynamic everyone will be watching is the Westbrook-James connection on offense. How will these two talented, explosive, yet ball-dominant playmakers co-exist? While some believe it might not work out well, the chemistry and cohesion with those two will take time. Both need to be willing to play off the ball more and pick their spots to be aggressive.
The transition game with Brodie and King James will be exciting to watch and Davis should benefit from easier scoring opportunities on pick-and-rolls. Also, look for Melo to be an X-factor especially from three-point range.
The role players will need to make open shots consistently which has been a problem in recent years. Hopefully, these new veterans won’t take as long to find their niche on the offensive end as it likely take on the defensive side.
Lastly, where the Lakers are at a disadvantage is many of the teams in the West are running it back with most of their squads from last season largely in tact. So while the Lakers could get out to a slow start trying to find themselves, many teams like Phoenix, Utah, Denver, Dallas, Golden State, and the Clippers could start faster because their chemistry is solidified.
However, the Lakers’ focus is the long game; get everyone on the same page as the season rolls along. If they can sacrifice and develop that chemistry by the spring, then they should surpass those other teams when it matters most.
