Lakers coach Darvin Ham is feeling good about his team’s title chances after a successful offseason, writes Mark Medina of The Sporting Tribune. L.A. was able to add Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish and Jaxson Hayes while keeping Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt on team-friendly contracts.
“Our franchise has that tag of chasing down stars and trying to acquire the best possible talent across the board. But sometimes I think the way the game is trending, it’s all about cohesiveness,” Ham said. “It’s not just about winning right now. It’s about being able to win right now and have sustainability pieces.”
Ham believes having depth and the right complementary players is more important than adding a third star to LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Medina states. Ham is willing to let any battles for playing time be worked out once training camp begins.
“There’s a lot of competition in the building. We have to let all of this stuff play out.” Ham said. “We’re just cracking into July, man. We don’t have to start until October. They’ll get an answer pretty soon on September 29th.”
There’s more from Los Angeles:
- Davis will become eligible for an extension on August 4, but the Lakers may be reluctant to give him the maximum amount he can earn, according to Sean Deveney of Heavy.com. Although Davis is among the league’s best players, he missed 26 games last season and health will become a bigger concern now that he has turned 30. An Eastern Conference executive speculates that the Lakers might prefer to take their chances with Davis in free agency if he exercises an early termination option after next season. “There will be a bit more money on the market in 2024,” the executive said. “That would make them nervous. But nervous enough to give (Davis) $60 million a year? I doubt that. Because the Pacers aren’t giving him $60 million per year and you do not want to bid against yourself. It’s got to be reasonable for both sides. If Davis would play ball and sign for less, two years and $80 million or something, then maybe something gets done.”
- First-round pick Jalen Hood-Schifino had his lowest-scoring game of the summer on Friday, but the Lakers want him to concentrate more on play-making and especially defense, per Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. “That’s going to be his calling card early,” said Summer League coach JD DuBois. “Can you guard point of attack, get into the ball, pursue and guard without fouling? As long as he can progress in those areas, we have enough guys on offense to where he’ll be able to fit in. Defense will be that foundation for him.”
- Steve Kerr’s battles with Reaves impressed the Warriors coach enough to add him to Team USA’s FIBA World Cup roster, Price adds in a separate piece. Kerr explained that he was looking for versatility, size and play-making for the international tournament, and Reaves provides all those things.
Title chances ????
That’s got to be dumbest shhh to say …..
It would be dumb for Nuggets or Heat to say. And they have to be favorites coming in…(Dame in Miami)
Lakers, last yrs #7 seed will be lucky to make top 4. The Window is SHUT. BronGM has no moves left ……. AD without Bron isn’t worth max money. Go ahead LA please sign him
Curry missed more games than AD last year. Without AD the Lakers have no chance at a title.
With all that you pointed out, LAL made the WCF.
Better than the Knickerbockers.
Lakers are in the position they want to be in. LeBron and AD are both sitting on Player Options after the season. If the Lakers don’t at least get to the WCF, then they will be ready to blow it up, and LeBron and AD will cherry pick their next title run situation.
Max Christie is continuing to develop nicely. Hood-Schifino looks like he has a chance to be a real NBA guy as well. That is a good start on a rebuild.
Take LeBron and AD off the cap, and the Lakers will be waiting for the next superstar ready to move. Joel Embiid?? Giannis??
Year 3 with Austin Reaves, this is what a rebuild looks like, Cap space open 2024 for DeRozan, Chicago deep dish has nothing on Nyk thin crust
In Ham we trust!!!!
Lakers had a great off season… But not that great…
There title chances have not improved with their offseason if anything it decreased with other teams in the West making real upgrades. They can go as far as Lebron and Davis can carry them but that may not be enough to reach the WCF let alone the finals this year. I think it will take more significant movement to make a real step forward.
What upgrades? Outside of the Suns and the low-tier teams every other team either stayed the same or got worse? The Mavs still don’t look as good as they did with Brunson, the Kings did barely anything, the Warriors have the CP3 trade which may not even work out due to his play style not being a match for GSW, the Nuggets lost Brown and overpaid Reggie Jackson, the Clippers haven’t changed because they’re trying for a Harden trade (which I don’t like for them anyway), the Grizzlies have the suspension to deal with and the addition of Smart doesn’t make them title favorites to me (though him + no Brooks helps), the Blazers are actively trying to trade their best player, the Pels are still injury prone and have placed all their eggs in the internal improvement basket, and the T-wolves look worse. The Suns, I will give you, but nobody else who can achieve a winning record made any big upgrades nor solidified their core except OKC, and I still don’t see them as contenders yet unless Chet instantly becomes a star.
The Lakers improved their wing and point guard situation, solidified the core that took them to the WCF and fleshed out their depth, and have a full training camp to synergize properly instead of doing it on the fly during the season. How did they not improve or at least maintain their second-half state?
Three crucial things for the LAKERS this season …… Lebron’s health, AD’s health and Ham’s coaching.
The less coaching Ham does the better the team plays. It’s kinda funny how when the players come off the court they go and talk to Phil Handy and not Ham. LeBron snatched the clipboard from him more than once. Ham don’t care though, he just stands around w/ his hands in his pockets.