Lakers News: Where Stephen A. Smith Lists LA Among His Top 5 Contenders Next Season

Where do you rank the Lakers?

Coming off an appearance in the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers will be looked at as one of the favorites to win it all next season. They should likely have LeBron James back in the mix to pair with Anthony Davis so it's for good reason. LA was one of the last four teams standing after putting their roster together at the trade deadline and only being all together for two months. So just imagine what they could do with a full training camp and summer together. 

ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith is known for his hot takes and ability to break down the NBA. On a recent episode of his show, Smith listed his top five NBA contenders for next season and the Lakers came in as the fourth team. This seems about right for the Lakers as they enter a critical offseason.

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The defending champion Denver Nuggets headline the list and rightfully so. They won the title and swept the Lakers out of the playoffs. Denver deserves to be listed first on the list.

Next up is the Boston Celtics. This one I'm okay with due to Boston also reaching the Conference Finals this past season. They will have some of the better players in the game with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. And the Celtics have one of the better benches in the league. Boston deserves to be listed in the top three. 

Finally, right before the Lakers is the Milwaukee Bucks. And again, I think this is the correct spot for them. Milwaukee had the best record in the NBA this season and would have likely gone on a playoff run if Giannis Antetokounmpo doesn't get hurt in the first round of the playoffs. Milwaukee will be a problem once again next season so it makes sense that the Lakers are behind them.

Los Angeles has some work to do this offseason to put themselves in the top three of the league. However, they aren't that far off if they do indeed bring back most of their core from this season. 

General Manager Rob Pelinka will head up the roster construction and his goal will be to put together a team that can bring banner number 18 to the City of Angels. 

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