Lakers News: League Dubious LA Can Emerge Out Of West In New Poll

Your Los Angeles Lakers may have snuck into the Western Conference Finals as a 43-39 seventh seed last spring, but they were no ordinary seventh seed.

If one actually zooms into their performance following the February 9th trade deadline, they went 18-8 (we're not counting the 9th itself, when none of the players added within the previous 24 hours had passed medical evaluations yet), the equivalent, percentage-wise, of a 57-win season across a full year. LA only improved this summer. Among important playoff rotation players last season, only Dennis Schroder and Lonnie Walker IV departed in free agency, while the Lakers added Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Christian Wood, Jaxson Hayes and Cam Reddish.

So for all intents and purposes, the Lakers should ostensibly be even more formidable in the postseason.

But it doesn't seem like the league at large is particularly concerned.

Tim Bontemps of ESPN polled 15 NBA coaches, front office executives and scouts for their predictions on a variety of preseason topics. 10 voted for the reigning champion Denver Nuggets, three voted for the revamped and revitalized Phoenix Suns, and two voted for the 2022 title-winning Golden State Warriors.

"They [the Denver Nuggets] have the best player in the world, continuity and their young guys will keep getting better," an Eastern Conference scout explained. "I don't see anyone beating them if healthy."

Denver lost its two best bench players, Bruce Brown and Jeff Green, but clearly is hoping for internal growth from reserves Christian Braun and Peyton Watson, plus perhaps from a rookie role player.

The Suns traded for former All-Star guard Bradley Beal, who will join a loaded starting lineup alongside All-Stars Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, and maximum-salaried center Deandre Ayton. The fifth slot, probably small forward (or perhaps power forward, with Durant sliding to the three?), is projected to go to Josh Okogie, though there will be plenty of ring-chasing veterans who could conceivably get a look, under former LA head coach Frank Vogel.

Los Angeles beat a dysfunctional Warriors team in a six-game second round series last spring. While the Lakers have only improved, the Warriors added Chris Paul, a guy who will obviously be hurt in the playoffs, as he has been in almost every single postseason for the past decade. Even if he is healthy, he'll just choke, which he has done whenever he hasn't been hurt in a playoff series. As currently comprised, they're not going to be a problem.

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