While the 2015-16 season may be the last season Los Angeles Lakers fans see Kobe Bryant in the purple and gold, it appears that Bryant has some high hope for the team next year.
They added D’Angelo Russell and Larry Nance Jr in the 2015 NBA Draft and acquired Roy Hibbert from the Indiana Pacers in a trade and brought in Lou Williams and Brandon Bass via free agency.
They have four new players coming in next season along with the players already on the roster like Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, Nick Young and Bryant. But is that team enough to make the Western Conference playoffs next season?
Kobe Bryant thinks so.
Following from Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
Q: What do you think about the state of the Lakers right now?
Kobe: “They have really set themselves up for a promising future going on years. I think they drafted very well. The free agents that we picked are extremely solid, [Roy] Hibbert, [Brandon] Bass, Lou [Williams]. We have a very good mix of young and veteran leadership. The challenge is going to be blending the two and cutting down the learning curve.
“How quickly can we get going? How quickly can we bring up [rookie D’Angelo] Russell, [Julius] Randle. [Jordan] Clarkson got valuable experience last year in playing that will benefit us tremendously. I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to running with these young guns.”
Q: Can this Lakers team make the playoffs?
Kobe: “Of course it can. Absolutely. We have talented players in their respective positions. We have some really young players. How exactly will the pieces of the puzzle fit? We really don’t know. We are going to [training] camp trying to piece this together just like every other team does. We have to figure out what our strengths are, figure out what our weaknesses are. And every time we step on the court we are going to try to hide our weaknesses and step up to our strengths.”
Well, there’s really nothing else he could have said here. While Kobe is one to always be honest, this idea of making the playoffs in the Western Conference may be a pipe-dream.
The top five teams in the West didn’t lose anything important this summer but instead, they got better.
Golden State Warriors added Jason Thompson.
San Antonio Spurs added LaMarcus Aldridge and retained the main core of their rotation.
Houston Rockets added Ty Lawson.
Los Angeles Clippers added multiple players including Paul Pierce, Josh Smith and Lance Stephenson but most importantly they retained DeAndre Jordan.
Memphis Grizzlies added Brandan Wright and Matt Barnes.
So, three spots remain and there’s still about five more teams that could finish ahead of the Lakers this season.
Oklahoma City Thunder are healthy and that’s a problem for the entire NBA.
Utah Jazz finished last season with the NBA’s best record after the All-Star break.
New Orleans Pelicans are returning everyone, re-signed Anthony Davis to an extension and brought in new coach Alvin Gentry.
Dallas Mavericks might have missed out on DeAndre Jordan but they did add some talent in Deron Williams, Zaza Pachulia and Wesley Matthews. They might not be out of the bottom half of the playoff picture.
Portland Trail Blazers lost four of their five starters but added some talented youth in Mason Plumlee, Ed Davis, Al Farouq-Aminu, Noah Vonleh and Mo Harkless.
Unfortunately for LA, it’s going to be an uphill climb for the Lakers to even sneak into the playoffs this season, let alone ‘absolutely’ make it.
