The Los Angeles Lakers clearly have the goods to win the NBA title.
The Los Angeles Lakers may not have been playing perfect basketball prior to the stoppage of the regular season, but their 49-14 record still placed them atop the Western Conference standings. They will enter the playoffs as one of a handful of teams with a legitimate chance to capture the NBA title.
Any team that boasts two superstars has a chance to make a deep postseason run. LeBron James and Anthony Davis are two of the best players on the planet. The Lakers have enough star power to win early rounds based on the strength of their dynamic duo alone.
The role players have to step up if the Lakers are going to bring another title to the City of Angels. There’s plenty of reason for optimism on that front too. Add it all up and the Lakers have a clear recipe for playoff success. Here are the top five reasons why the Lakers can win it all in 2020.
5. Frank Vogel’s Lakers can go small
Davis isn’t a fan of playing center during the regular season, but Vogel has the coaching influence required to convince him it’s the right move in the postseason. Sliding Davis down to the center spot in closing lineups will give the Lakers a dynamic unit to deploy late in games.
When Davis moves to center, look for Vogel to use Markieff Morris as his frontcourt mate. Morris’ ability to defend physical post players and step out and guard shooting bigs on the perimeter will give the Lakers invaluable lineup flexibility in the postseason.
The Lakers need to mix and match their lineups to handle the different types of opponents they’ll encounter in the playoffs. Their ability to go small should allow Vogel to dictate matchups when the fourth quarter arrives. That’s a big edge for Los Angeles.