As mentioned numerous times before, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is closer to the end of his career than the beginning. James will enter the 2024-25 season as the oldest player in the NBA, and the Lakers are coming off three straight disappointing regular seasons. While Lakers training camp is still nearly two weeks away, James believes this season will be unbelievable.
LeBron James Predicts That The Upcoming Season Will Be Unbelievable For Himself
The Lakers and James union has not been the “dream marriage” Lakers Nation had imagined when the nearly 40-year-old forward landed in LaLa land seven summers ago. Since joining the Lakers, LA has had the 10th-best regular season, though their 289 victories are 34 fewer than those of their former Crypto.com housemates during the stretch.
Furthermore, over these past six seasons, Los Angeles has only won 50 games once, and the Lakers have failed to make the playoffs twice. Granted, the Lakers won the NBA Championship in the “bubble” (2020), but they have also failed to get out of the first round twice in their four playoff seasons.
LA is coming off a 47-35 campaign last season, losing in the first round to Denver in five games. Now, the Lakers have a new coaching staff, led by rookie head coach JJ Redick. They also didn’t do much in terms of their roster.
2024-25 Roster
James and Anthony Davis, who are, by all accounts, the team’s go-to guys nowadays, will once again be the leaders. James has been great with the Lakers and is coming off an incredible season in which he was named to an All-NBA team for the 20th time and named among the top 10 clutch players.
But this season could legitimately be James last season. He will become the 29th NBA player ever to appear in a game at 40 or older after his December 30th birthday and signed a one-plus-one contract this summer.
Meanwhile, Davis is coming off his best campaign over the last three seasons. He averaged a double-double for the second straight season and was named to the NBA All-Defensive team and the second-team All-NBA squad.
James and Davis each played over 70 games during the regular season for the first time, and the Lakers were 39-25 in contests both players started (8-10 in contests both didn’t). The Lakers have a 64.3% winning percentage at 135-75 (in games James and Davis play).
D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, and Rui Hachimura will likely round out the starting five. James, Davis, Russell, Reaves, and Hachimura were the Lakers’ most successful starting lineup a year ago (18-6) with a +6.7 scoring margin per 100 possessions.
Knecht and Bronny James
The Lakers’ only newcomers this offseason that will be on their 15-man roster, unless a surprise trade occurs, are their 2024 draft picks, Dalton Knecht and Bronny James. Knecht could have a pretty significant role as arguably one of the best shooters on the team. Knecht made 2.1 treys a game during the summer league, though he only shot 34% from deep.
On the other hand, Bronny is not expected to see much time on the court, especially meaningful minutes, as he is seen as more of a development player. However, it is not surprising that James is excited to have his son on the team, as they are the first father-son duo in NBA history.
Will The Lakers Make Any Moves Before The Season?
Los Angeles is right at the second apron and has 15 players with guaranteed deals. So, unless the Lakers are willing to go over the punitive second apron, don’t expect them to make any moves until at least January. The Lakers are expected to be shorthanded at the start of the season as Christian Wood and Jared Vanderbilt are recovering from injuries.
The Lakers have filled their 21 training camp spots. Colin Castleton, Christian Koloko, and Armel Traore are on two-way deals.
The Last Word
The Pacific Division appears wide open, and it could come down to who stays healthy. Phoenix is the favorite at +215 to capture the title, with Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and Devin Booker leading the way. Sacramento is second at +280 odds, and Golden State is third at +380.
I think all of those three teams are much deeper and better than the Lakers (+415) at this point. The season is long, and I like what the Warriors did this offseason. The Kings’ addition of DeMar DeRozan may be exactly what they needed.
At some point, Los Angeles will likely try to get another “star” player, particularly a point guard. If the Lakers do that and James and Davis stay healthy the whole season, then they have a chance to make some noise in the playoffs. Expect them to be a play-in team or a No. 6 seed.
As it stands right now, OKC and Minnesota are the clear top teams in the West. The Suns and Kings could be next, and then we will have to see how things shake out. Conversely, the Nuggets are on a downward trend.
