Are the Lakers Actually Contenders?

Los Angeles Lakers Coach JJ Reddick

The Los Angeles Lakers currently have the 4th best odds to win the NBA Championship (+1100) behind the one seed in each conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers, and the defending champion Boston Celtics. The team has won eight games in a row, the first 8+ game winning streak of Luka’s career, and has been riding high behind a defense that is first in net rating since the blockbuster trade that landed Doncic in Southern California. All signs are pointing towards a potential deep playoff run but can this team actually win the NBA championship?

I believe the answer to that question hinges primarily on one main question. Is this often-centerless defense (sorry Jaxon Hayes) legitimately one of the best in the league? There is no question that JJ Reddick has found something on that end of the floor. He has instilled a mentality within his roster that you will have to fight them every night for a win, yes actually fight them according to Trey Jemison. This mentality will allow a good-to-great defensive floor, and I expect it to keep them in games in just about any playoff matchup even if they shoot the ball poorly.  

Despite this high floor, I believe there is one key defensive question that needs to be answered before we can call the Lakers true title contenders. That is, how well will they be able to defend high-level guards? Look no further than last night's game between the Lakers and the New York Knicks. Before leaving the game with an ankle injury, Jalen Brunson poured in thirty-nine points on the Lakers despite only shooting 1-7 beyond the arc. The one seeds in each conference are led by two of the top guards in the league Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Donovan Mitchell (who is flanked by Darius Garland who is no slouch as a playmaker).

In the closing stretch of the season, I think we will learn a lot about the ceiling of this team as we watch what style of defense and how successful they are against some of the premier guards in the league. If they demonstrate the ability to limit the likes of Stephen Curry or SGA to inefficient games or lower-scoring outputs in their matchups in April, it will be hard not to buy stock in the Lakers going into the playoffs.