{"id":48505,"date":"2022-09-29T08:00:16","date_gmt":"2022-09-29T12:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=48505"},"modified":"2022-09-28T20:22:21","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T00:22:21","slug":"los-angeles-lakers-2022-23-season-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2022\/09\/29\/los-angeles-lakers-2022-23-season-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"Los Angeles Lakers 2022-23 Season Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two seasons removed from an NBA title, the Lakers have struggled to get back to their championship ways.\u00a0 This year does not project to be an easy one, either, with a cluster of moves that made their offseason a head-scratcher.<\/span><\/p>\n

Los Angeles Lakers 2022-23 Season Preview<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Two New Point Guards<\/b><\/h3>\n

The Lakers\u2019 most recent significant move was another reunion, signing <\/span>Dennis Schr\u00f6der<\/b><\/a> to a one-year, $2.6 million deal after his stellar performances in the EuroBasket tournament.\u00a0 The 29-year-old point guard had his first LakeShow rodeo in the 2020-21 season, where he averaged 15.4 points, 5.8 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game.\u00a0 Since then, he had underwhelming stints with the Celtics and Rockets, but his incredible international play showed the world that he still belongs in the NBA.<\/span><\/p>\n

Aside from Schroder, LA also traded <\/span>Talen Horton-Tucker<\/b><\/a> and <\/span>Stanley Johnson<\/b><\/a> to the Jazz in exchange for <\/span>Patrick Beverley<\/b><\/a>.\u00a0 The Lakers moved on from two promising young guys but received a gritty two-way guard that embodies coach Darvin Ham\u2019s defense-first mentality.<\/span><\/p>\n

These two major moves encapsulate the Lakers\u2019 mysterious offseason, where they signed younger players who are hungry for a chance to prove themselves.\u00a0 That list now includes Matt Ryan<\/strong><\/a> and Dwayne Bacon<\/strong><\/a>\u2014both wings with perimeter shooting potential\u2014who were inked to training camp deals earlier this week.\u00a0 They also re-signed <\/span>LeBron James<\/b><\/a> to a two-year, $97 million extension that cements the King\u2019s future in LA until the 2024-25 season.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Comes Next?<\/b><\/h3>\n

The current roster provides more questions than answers as presently constructed, particularly with the new dilemma of four point guards: Russell Westbrook<\/strong><\/a>, <\/span>Kendrick Nunn<\/b><\/a>, Schr\u00f6der, and Beverley.\u00a0 A Russ trade was the talk of the town for months, but Woj recently tweeted that the two will continue their partnership for this season.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

There are no assurances that Russell Westbrook will be a starter for these Los Angeles Lakers, nor assurances that he\u2019ll remain this season. Nevertheless, he promises this: \u201cI\u2019m all-in on whatever it takes for this team to win.\u201d Story on ESPN+: https:\/\/t.co\/FbaLqBJhAR<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 25, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

During the team\u2019s Media Day, Rob Pelinka also noted the reasons behind not making a trade involving both future first-round picks:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Pelinka on potential trades: “You have one shot to make a trade with multiple picks, and if you make that trade, it has to be the right one. So we\u2019re being very thoughtful around decisions about when to use draft capital.”<\/p>\n

\u2014 Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) September 26, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Darvin Ham also reiterated key points of his coaching philosophy, particularly an emphasis on competitiveness, togetherness, and accountability.\u00a0 He also stressed that Westbrook is not a guaranteed starter, and they have plenty of capable options for the first facilitator next to LeBron and AD.<\/span><\/p>\n

Los Angeles Lakers Expectations<\/b><\/h3>\n

As of right now, many have projected the Lakers to finish as a Play-in team, an understandable prediction given how this team was constructed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Westbrook being back in the picture brings plenty of questions, mainly in regard to his fit on this new roster.\u00a0 No one can deny how much of a headache he was last season. However, some fans, myself included, are beginning to think it\u2019s water under the bridge.\u00a0 The fact that he is not a penciled-in starter enforces Ham\u2019s mantra of sacrifice that he\u2019s preached since he was hired.\u00a0 Russ will also need to adjust his game to better fit next to LeBron and AD, being the pass-first guard he was in seasons past instead of shooting nearly every chance he gets.\u00a0 I am confident Russ and the Lakers can figure it out, but time will tell if he will truly gel with this team.<\/span><\/p>\n

Supporting Cast Breakdown<\/h4>\n

Aside from Russ, Davis, and James, the players surrounding them are equally as important.<\/span><\/p>\n

Schr\u00f6der and Beverley bring a lot of defensive toughness the team had missed for most of the year.\u00a0 Second-stint Lakers <\/span>Thomas Bryant<\/b><\/a> and <\/span>Damian Jones<\/b><\/a> look promising as well since both bring athleticism, energy, and rim protection into the fold.\u00a0 They also provide relief for <\/span>Anthony Davis<\/b><\/a>, who will shift to his natural power forward slot.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Lakers\u2019 guard and forward situation is also unique, as returner <\/span>Austin Reaves<\/b><\/a> is competing for the starting two-guard job against Pat Bev and <\/span>Lonnie Walker IV<\/b><\/a>.\u00a0 Likewise, their newest wings, <\/span>Troy Brown Jr.<\/b><\/a> and <\/span>Juan Toscano-Anderson<\/b><\/a>, will likely duke it out for a starting role.<\/span><\/p>\n

The team also holds promise with regard to their rookies, <\/span>Max Christie<\/b><\/a>, <\/span>Scotty Pippen Jr.<\/b><\/a>, and <\/span>Cole Swider<\/b><\/a>.\u00a0 Each of them brings a unique skill set to the team.\u00a0 Christie has the tools to become a 3&D player, Pippen is a solid scorer and facilitator, and Swider turned heads with his marksmanship from three.\u00a0 They all may see the end of the bench for now, but their development with the franchise is certainly not to be overlooked.<\/span><\/p>\n

While many are quick to dismiss LA\u2019s newest additions because of their names and statistics, it\u2019s important to note that they came here for larger opportunities.\u00a0 It will be up to them to make the most of their minutes on the court.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Lakers will only be able to sniff success if everyone buys into the culture shift and plays their role to a tee, and according to Kendrick Nunn, <\/span>that process has already begun<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 If everything goes according to plan, who knows how far they could go?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two seasons removed from an NBA title, the Lakers have struggled to get back to their championship ways.\u00a0 This year does not project to be an easy one, either, with a cluster of moves that made their offseason a head-scratcher. Los Angeles Lakers 2022-23 Season Preview Two New Point Guards The Lakers\u2019 most recent significant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":47833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[240,38,494,53],"class_list":["post-48505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lakers","tag-anthony-davis","tag-lebron-james","tag-patrick-beverley","tag-russell-westbrook"],"modified_by":"Kevin Nivek","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}