It has only been about 24 hours, but as of now over 57 percent of Hoops Rumors readers think that the Lakers will have more wins next season than the reigning Western Conference champion Thunder. We know what Kevin Durant had to say, and as we have learned with the Heat, it takes some time for new pieces to translate into a championship caliber club. Titles are not won on paper. Nevertheless, the Lakers are the talk of the NBA for a reason. Let's round up all the Lakers links on this Monday night:
- Dwight Howard coming to Los Angeles is just one of a number of moves that has transformed the L.A. sports scene into something special, says Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times. The cache of Los Angeles has always drawn elite NBA talent, and it appears that effect has begun to overflow outside of just the Lakers.
- Pau Gasol checked in with Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles on a wide variety of topics, including his performance in the Olympics as well as the Dwight Howard trade. Asked what to expect from the Lakers offense this year, he said, "We have to understand that there’s only one basketball to play with and we have a lot of players that can put the ball in the hole, and I’ll try to do my best to be assertive, to be active and be aggressive."
- According to HoopsWorld, Durant claims that Kobe Bryant was extremely confident that the Lakers would end up with Howard a month before the trade went down.
- Mike Trudell, who covers the Lakers for NBA.com, checked in at the new-look Lakers practice facility to see what players have already shown up to work out. According to the team's strength and conditioning coach, Devin Ebanks, Andrew Goudelock, Jordan Hill, Darius Morris and Metta World Peace have all frequented the facility.