Lakers News: How Expert Believes Los Angeles Will Fare Compared To Last Season

The team's revamped roster features some high-upside young pieces.

Your Los Angeles Lakers managed to expertly thread the needle between holding onto most of the big assets they acquired in the days and weeks leading up to last season's trade deadline and making some key free agent pick-ups this summer.

They mostly have received high marks for their team-building efforts. To recap: team president Rob Pelinka held onto his starting backcourt of D'Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves, kept playoffs over-performer Rui Hachimura, and fully guaranteed power forward Jarred Vanderbilt's $4.7 million team option for next year. 

Pelinka then went out and added point guard Gabe Vincent (a better point guard than Russell, making Russell an intriguing trade piece this year) and combo forward Taurean Prince on team-friendly contracts, and took flyers on former lottery picks Cam Reddish and Jaxson Hayes. Pelinka also drafted wings Jalen Hood-Schifino and Maxwell Lewis.

Dan Favale of Bleacher Report commends the team's additions of Vincent and Prince, while cautioning that perhaps the rampant acclaim for LA's offseason could be a bit overenthusiastic.

"This team won't necessarily be better because of who it added, but because of who it already had in place," Favale argues. "Austin Reaves, 25, will get better and is now on one of the NBA's best long-term contracts. Rui Hachimura, also 25, hinted at more scalable offense after coming over from the Washington Wizards. More than anything, the Lakers now have time to forge chemistry. They just made the Western Conference Finals while revamping the middle of their rotation on the fly. Imagine what they can do with an entire training camp to build familiarity. That alone offsets the risk of marginal regression from age-39-season LeBron James."

Assuming James and Anthony Davis' performative drop-offs from 2022-23 aren't too severe (and, ideally, that they don't miss any more games than they did that season), his reasoning is sound. Internal improvement from those two incumbent stars makes sense, but I think Favale is undervaluing just how good Vincent is (he was the third-best player on an NBA Finals team this year, after all), and the optionality that gives Pelinka to reshape the roster as needed at the 2024 trade deadline with the Russell contract.

Are you following us on Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube yet? Join the conversation as we discuss the latest Lakers news and rumors with fans like you!