Detroit Pistons vs. Los Angeles Lakers 2019-20 season preview
Lakers’ Crazy Off Season
Teams featuring Lebron James are always in win-now mode. Every LeBron team has been pressured to win immediately, to maximize his extraordinary talent and get as many rings as possible so that the fickle LeBron doesn’t take his talents and Taco Tuesday to another city. The Cavaliers constantly plugged holes with veterans to keep LeBron happy and shipped out younger players in favor of guys who could help him win now.
The Lakers off season was tumultuous, even for a LeBron team. It started in April when Magic Johnson shocked the NBA world by resigning as team president. I was personally disappointed, as I was loving watching Magic destroy the franchise. They then fired coach Luke Walton, making him the scapegoat for the Lakers’ failure.
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They named Frank Vogel head coach in May after a botched head coaching search and added Jason Kidd as assistant. This move is sure to make for some great drama if the Lakers get off to a slow start.
Then on June 15th the Lakers made their big splash, landing Anthony Davis in a trade for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and a trio of first round picks, one of which was the No. 4 pick in 2019. The Lakers re-signed former Piston Kentavious Caldwell Pope after missing out on Kawhi Leonard, then added guard Alex Caruso and center JaVale McGee.
The Lakers landed DeMarcus Cousins, who subsequently blew out his knee in a workout and is out indefinitely, which is a bummer, as it would have been fun to see how a team with LeBron, Boogie, Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson and Dwight Howard would get along.
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The Lakers also signed guards Avery Bradley and Danny Green, as well as Quinn Cook and Troy Daniels. They finally added journeyman Jared Dudley and center Dwight Howard (phew!) to the roster with the most reality TV potential in the league. They just need to sign a Kardashian.
Like many LeBron teams, the youngsters were jettisoned to win now and placate the superstar. Even though the Lakers feature two Top Five players in LeBron and The Brow, the rest of the roster looks like it was put together by a 15-year-old playing NBA 2K20. It will be interesting to see if Vogel can make this work, and if not, how long he’ll last with Jason Kidd lurking in the shadows. This has all the makings of a disaster and I for one can’t wait.