The 2024-25 NBA season is here! We break down the biggest questions, best and worst case scenarios and fantasy prospects for all 30 teams. Enjoy!
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
2023-24 end
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Record: 47-35 (lost in the first round against the Nuggets, but they also won the in-season tournament, so, you know: not all bad)
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Offensive rating: 115.4 (15th)
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Defensive rating: 114.8 (17th)
Offseason moves
The Big Question: Can LeBron + AD still give you a chance?
Two seasons ago, the Lakers’ fortunes turned when they ended the Russell Westbrook experiment in favor of surrounding LeBron James and Anthony Davis with more players who could shoot and defend. (Which, you may recall, is how they won the 2020 NBA championship.) The result: an 18-9 close to the regular season, a upper-seven-point differential in that span, and playoff wins over the Grizzlies and Warriors before losing to the Nuggets.
Last season, after sputtering at .500 on February 1st, their fortunes began to turn when Ham surrounded James and Davis with Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura – three players who could shoot and (somewhat) defend. The result: a 22-10 near, the the league’s No. 3 offenseand a game-winning shot over the Pelicans before, um, losing to the Nuggets.
We know this much: First-time head coach Redick isn’t going to wait 50 games to lean into what works, intending to start that Jump Street lineup. For good reason: LeBron-AD-Reaves-Russell-Hachimura outscored opponents by 6.9 points per 100 possessions last season, winning at a top-three clip while defending as a top-seven unit. The lineup replicated that success in the playoffs, too, outscoring Denver by 14 points in its 96 minutes.
A lineup with multiple plus shooters and ball handlers to ease the playmaking load off LeBron, who can utilize great positional size on defense while pounding the paint on offense – LA finished second in the NBA in the part of its shots that came at the edgefirst in field goal percentage at the rimand second in free throw rate — is a great starting point. Think back to how remarkable James looked at quarterback for Team USA, and how dominant Davis looked defensively, and your mind begins to trace the outline of another title push.
“Going out there at my age, with the miles that I have, and being able to play at the level that I played at, it gave me … even more of a sense of, ‘OK, I’ve got a lot in the tank — a lot, ‘” James told reporters on media day. “I can help a large part of a team win the ultimate, [whether] it’s gold or a Larry O’Brien Trophy or whatever the case may be. I can still do it.”
One stinging issue: The Lakers’ second unit does not have Kevin Durant, Anthony Edwards and Bam Adebayo.
This year’s roster largely resembles its predecessor — the natural outgrowth of a summer spent in staring contest with the apron after Russell, a essential regular-season bell and postseason grindstonetook his $18.7 million player option. Salvation, then, must come from within: from the inner development of young people like Max Christie and Jalen Hood-Schifino; of the hopefully salutary effects of continuity; and of Redick picking whatever low hanging fruit he can locate.
First on the list: get up road more 3-pointers. If the longtime NBA shooter has his drubbles, the Lakers won’t finish 27th and 28th in 3-point attempt rate further. (Enter first-round pick Knecht, who shot 40% from distance at Tennessee last season while taking more than 12 triples per 100 possessions.)
Another potential pick? Tilting the possession game. LA finished last season 29th in offensive rebounding rate and dead last in second chance points; a schematic shift to a more opportunistic crash could pay dividends. (A healthy Jarred Vanderbilt could help. He is still recovering from multiple offseason foot surgeries; his return date remains uncertain.)
It’s a version of the Lakers that takes a better starting five, gets growth from its young pieces and better health from its complementary vets, extracts more productivity on the margins, and gets top 10 performances from its franchise cornerstones. That, like Hachimura said at the start of camp“there is a team that can win the whole thing.”
It’s also a terribly optimistic view. Which, perhaps, is why the elder statesman of the sport struck a more sober note.
“I have no expectations,” James said. “And that’s unfair to put any expectations on us right now. The only thing we can rely on each other is how we practice and come to work every day.”
Best case scenario
Redick injects newfound creativity and stability, resulting in a roster capable of being more than just the sum of its parts. An “empowered” AD finally gets his Defensive Player of the Year due and lands back on the MVP ballot. After an up-and-down encore to his successful season, Reaves becomes a consistent 20-point scorer and high-efficiency playmaker, earning All-Star consideration. Russell either balls out in his contract year or becomes the equal-salary ballast that allows general manager Rob Pelinka — who recently said he’s open to putting the team’s 2029 and 2031 first-round picks on the table. in a deal he felt would help ensure “continued Laker excellence” — pull the trigger on something big. The bet pays off. The Lakers top 50 wins for the first time since the bubble title. Both LeBron and AD get another shot to prove their partnership is still powerful enough to reach the promised land.
If everything falls apart
Father Time is finally coming for LeBron, and Davis can’t raise his game enough to compensate. Russell, Reaves and Rui stagnate; the young people don’t pop; Vando and Gabe Vincent will not save you. Pelinka looks at another underpowered roster in 30-plus games and decides discretion is the better part of valor, preferring not to throw good draft picks after bad ones. Redick wishes he just kept calling games with Doris and podcasting with Nekias and Steveas his best laid plans are dashed on the rocks by the dual realities of a roster that doesn’t have enough talent and a Western Conference that does tons
A fancy spin
Has Redick already turned the Lakers into a fantasy team? It looks that way, as their starting unit looks rejuvenated and motivated under Redick’s offensive schemes. Redick also admitted that he wants to take care of a nine-man rotationbut it could reach down eight sometimes.
Davis will cost a mid-first round pick, while the oldest player in the league, LeBron James, holds it as a late-second, early-third-round pick. I would expect both to go before the mid-second round for points ties.
Russell’s ADP is trending toward a respectable price in the seventh round. Reaves, however, is trending down despite coming off a career year. His ADP may be mispriced at 86th overall. Hachimura is not a must have player and it will take an injury for Christie to pull off waivers. — Dan Tito
schedule 2024-25
The Lakers won 47 last season with LeBron and AD missing just 17 games overall, their fewest since the bubble title, and combining to play over 5,200 minutes, by far the most in their combined LA tenure. What seems more likely: that health, availability and productivity continue, or at least a slight decline in one, if not both? The latter, I think, – which, in a tougher top-down conference, feels like a good reason to go under.
