Darvin Ham looks to be the new messiah of the Los Angeles Lakers. After letting go of championship-winning coach, Frank Vogel, the Lakers pivoted and took a risk by appointing Darvin Ham to the role as a rookie head coach. Ham is coming from the Milwaukee Bucks and has spent years in Mike Budenholzer’s system. He was crucial in the Bucks championship win last season.
With the Lakers winning a title one year before the Bucks, there’s plenty of championship fuel in this team still. LeBron James is as much a championship player as anyone else we have seen in the league in the last 20 years. With the worst team record of LeBron’s 19-year career in the rearview and Ham in charge of the team, the Lakers are flowing with optimism.
Coach has already issued a warning to everyone by telling the Laker fans to stay tuned because the Lakers are coming next season.
Darvin Ham has a message for Laker fans 👀 pic.twitter.com/xwhHC6N5fV
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 8, 2022
Selling someone hope when there is still a lot of work to be done is incredibly risky. Laker fans have been wanting a resolution to their struggles for a long time now and those struggles are roster-based more than anything. Vogel won a championship when he had depth on his roster and pieces tailored to run well with LeBron and Anthony Davis.
The roster is far from perfect. Over half the players on the team this season were on a veteran’s minimum, so they either need to be re-signed or the Lakers need a fresh supporting cast that will play the way Darvin wants them to play.
Until a roster is in place, we cannot forecast the Lakers’ competitiveness next season. Hopefully, they make more shots than they miss in free agency and construct a roster that has the pieces they need, even if the pieces have to be very cheap.
