The Los Angeles Lakers won the 2020 NBA championship in October after a tumultuous season that saw them dominate in the bubble, having an easy path to the Finals, where they beat the Miami Heat in six games. The Lakers built a team to win a championship and even though they landed in Orlando with some absences, the players they brought as replacement worked very well with them, contributing to their first NBA championship in 10 years.
After that title, the rest of the NBA started working to bolster their squad to try to beat LeBron James, Anthony Davis and co. However, the Lakers weren’t going to see how everybody else got better while they kept the same team from the bubble. They tried to retain a couple of players but they decided to leave and join other franchises, but that didn’t mean a problem for them.
In fact, the purple and gold took advantage of those situations and landed the right pieces to defend their championship this upcoming season. Rob Pelinka is having a terrific offseason as the Lakers GM, adding four pieces that will take the Lakers to the next level. They first landed Dennis Schroder via trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder; then Wesley Matthews and Montrezl Harrell joined them in free agency.
Dennis Schröder
Wes Matthews
Montrezl Harrell
Marc Gasol
Props to Rob Pelinka pic.twitter.com/2PcKHrJ3SJ
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) November 23, 2020
Rob Pelinka adds Dennis Schroder, Wesley Matthews, Montrezl Harrell & Marc Gasol.
Would it shock you if Lebron took that group to the finals out of the East? No.
Add Anthony Freaking Davis, KCP, ACfresh, Kuzma
Pelinka is having an all time great offseason.
— funnyNBAguy (@FunnyNbaGuy) November 23, 2020
Lastly, they got a huge signing in Marc Gasol, who was followed by several teams around the league. Added to that, they re-sign Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and maintained most of the players that played with them last season. They’re still waiting for Anthony Davis to re-sign and that will confirm that they are the team to beat in the league. The Lakers are ready to compete and the rest of the league will have a hard time trying to dethrone them.
