Lakers Looking To 2020 Championship Roster’s Success As Inspiration For Upcoming Season

Something seems familiar about this roster construction...

The 2020 NBA season was one for the ages. It saw the Los Angeles Lakers take down the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals to claim their 17th title in NBA history. Despite all the craziness of the world, basketball helped many around the world get through it all. The 2020 Lakers were a very well put together team that just clicked. 

They had size, defense, just enough shooting and were led by two star players in LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

However, the Lakers front office broke apart the core of the team too soon and they have been trying to get back to this type of roster construction since. But as the team enters into the upcoming season, things seem a bit similar. For the first time in the James-Davis era, the Lakers have prioritized continuity over star chasing and it has the roster looking similar to that of the championship squad from 2020.

General Manager Rob Pelinka spoke about how the team envisioned a similar style of play this year with the team loading up with size to pair alongside Davis. Since 2020, teams have been starting to come back towards having bigger lineups and with the Denver Nuggets recent title, it surely will continue to grow.

Rob Pelinka just mentioned on ESPN that the Lakers have had talks with Anthony Davis about going back to the two-big model they used with Dwight Howard/JaVale McGee. Pelinka said it was a big reason why Jaxson Hayes was signed

— michael corvo (@michaelcorvo_) July 8, 2023

The Lakers signed Jaxson Hayes with the idea to play him in a similar role that former center Dwight Howard had during the title season. Like Howard, Hayes will be mainly used as a lob threat and a rim defender. His athleticism should allow for this and he could create a strong pairing with Davis. 

LA clearly saw that this structure of a team worked around their two stars and they retained most of the team that just reached the Western Conference Finals. They want to build on that and this is the way to do that.

It gives LA the opportunity to use multiple versatile lineups as the season goes on and they can matchup with anything that opposing teams throw at them.

Let's all hope that the 2023-2024 season ends with the LakeShow holding up the trophy, just like the 2020 season. 

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