“Turning This Group Into a Legitimate Contender”: Los Angeles Lakers Believe They Can Win the NBA Championship This Season
There is optimism surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers because they have won five of their previous six games, are anticipated to have both Anthony Davis and LeBron James healthy on Monday night, and other players are settling into their roles. Russell Westbrook has also found a role and a level of comfort coming off the bench. Even though it may be 7-11, it’s still early enough to have hope that things could change.
In their first 12 games of the season, they had 10 defeats and only two victories, which was a very dismal start. The Lakers executive office may favor patience this season, but that doesn’t mean the whole organization shares that outlook. It is thought that the Lakers club may be on the verge of making a breakthrough, especially with regard to the roster.
Los Angeles Lakers hopeful of winning this season
“There is belief shared by leaders in the Lakers’ locker room, sources said, that the team is only a couple of players away from turning this group into a legitimate contender. But acquiring the right players could take multiple trades,” McMenamin reported.
Given their recent string of excellent performances—five victories in their past six games, even, though three of those victories came against the Spurs—reasonable, it’s for the players to be upbeat. In a similar vein, the Lakers’ roster has been lopsided the whole season. The lack of guards has put a strain on the Lakers’ wings and forced them to play some extremely short lineups this season.
Are the Lakers truly just missing a few guys to challenge? While they have won 5 out of 6, 3 of those victories were against the Spurs, who were tanking, and the other 2 came against the Pistons, who were so injured they could as well have been tanking.
The Los Angeles Lakers performed as required and prospered during a lenient period of the schedule, but that period is going to end and provide the Lakers with a sobering assessment of their current situation.
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