The Lakers are clearly one of the favorites that’s the NBA playoffs resume. They have two of the top five players in the NBA, and have a lot of size and shooting on the roster. LeBron James and Anthony Davis are extremely dominant players that actually give the Lakers the best top-heavy talent in the NBA.
But many in the media seem to claim that the Los Angeles Clippers have more depth on the team, while teams like the Bucks have reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. Despite the amount of NBA contenders fighting for the title this year, here are the five reasons why the Los Angeles Lakers will win the NBA title this year.
LeBron James And Anthony Davis
The NBA is a league of superstars. Superstars dictate the outcome of games and usually dictate who wins the NBA championship. A team with the upper echelon of Superstars are usually title contenders and usually lift the trophy at the end of June.
The Lakers happen to have two of the top five players in the NBA and by far the best duo in the league. The Clippers have two Superstar forwards, but LeBron is better than Kawhi Leonard and Davis is better than Paul George.
LeBron is the best playmaker in the league and the best overall player in the world, while Davis is the best big man in the league who possesses the skills of a guard. LeBron is averaging 25.7 PPG and 10.6 APG this season while Davis is averaging 26.7 PPG and 9.4 RPG. These two guys are too good to handle in a 7-game series because they are double-double threats every game.
Tremendous Size
We know that LeBron and Davis have tremendous talent, but they are also very large players with great size. Davis is especially a beast on defense, averaging 2.4 BPG as the starting power forward. James and Davis are very imposing on the court and can actually be a very dominant defensive duo, but it doesn’t end there with the Lakers. JaVale McGee has proven to be a starting-caliber center in the NBA and has been a shot-blocker since he first came into the league with a career 1.5 BPG average.
McGee and Davis are 7 ft tall and very active defensively. The Lakers also have Dwight Howard, a former MVP candidate in his prime, and a very imposing figure on defense. He can still block shots and alter many more. The Lakers can legitimately out-rebound any team in a series if they put their mind to it, and it will be very difficult to handle in the paint on both ends of the floor.
Believe It Or Not… J.R. Smith
I know it may seem like a joke, but J.R. Smith will prove to be a positive for the Los Angeles Lakers. Avery Bradley was already a positive for them, but since he is no longer joining the team this year, the perfect replacement is J.R. Smith. What makes Smith particularly valuable is his tendency to get super hot from the perimeter and give Davis and James a sharpshooter who can fire in threes at any moment. Smith is a career 37.3% shooter from deep, so this kind of marksmanship is very welcome.
But most importantly, Smith has played with LeBron James before and won an NBA title with him. Make no mistake, the Cleveland Cavaliers would not have won the title if it wasn’t for JR Smith shooting. He is also an above-average defender when he wants to be, and can almost replace Avery Bradley’s defense to a full extent.
LeBron James Rest
Perhaps the team that benefited the most from the league suspension this year was the Los Angeles Lakers. LeBron James may seem like he’s superhuman, but he has been in the league for a very long time (17 seasons) and has tremendous mileage on his body. LeBron is getting his much deserved rest, giving his mind and body ready for a deep playoff run.
A well-rested and healthy LeBron James is a very scary player to deal with because he is the best player in the world who has proven he can deliver NBA championships when he has a big-time All-Star by his side. A well-rested LeBron and Anthony Davis are going to be completely unstoppable from the jump.
Weaknesses Of Other Contenders
The final reason the Lakers will win an NBA title is that other contenders have glaring weaknesses. The Bucks do not have the talent the Lakers have, with only Giannis Antetokounmpo with the ability to win games on his own. The Lakers not only have two, but both Davis and James don’t have the weaknesses that Giannis has. He is still a below-average shooter, shooting from the field this season, so it will be tough to get past these weaknesses and defeat a team with two superstars on the level of Davis and James.
The Nuggets don’t have enough talent on the roster, and Davis and James will have their way with them. The Jazz don’t have the chemistry to be great and Mitchell is still inexperienced when it comes to deep playoff runs. The Rockets can beat anybody, but the Lakers have the better duo of superstars and have a rebounding and size advantage that will be prevalent over a long series.
The team with the best shot are the Clippers since they have unbelievable depth and two superstars of their own. But James and Davis have more impact than Kawhi and George, and we have not seen if PG is healthy enough to be his MVP-self like last year. Overall, the Lakers do not have the weaknesses and doubts of other contenders.
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