+2nd in league at finishing at the rim behind LeBron +free throw % went up +3pt % went up +solid D & effort -HORRIBLE CARELESS TURNOVERS "needs to learn how to take better care of ball" a above average passer when he does haters gone hate though
Lin will lead them to the playoffs and Kobe will have to field questions such as "So how are you going to adjust your game to mesh with Lin?" Spoiler
Vegas projects Lakers to win 31 games. I think they're good for that as long as Nash and Kobe remains healthy and play big minutes. If Nash goes down adn Lin has to play 35+ minutes, Lakers will suck big time.
I really have no idea. And.chances of them crashing and burning are not in inconsiderable. But consider this, they won 27 games last year without Kobe, Nash, Boozer, Lin, Ed Davis, and Randle (their lottery pick out of Kentucky). They lost Pau Gasol in off season but they also had ton of injuries last year. They're either going to stumble hard and be dysfunctional or they could be pretty good. I will say one thing - their fan boards are not nearly as good as Clutch Fans. With all the drama on here sometimes, this board still has some of the most knowledgable and fun post-ers
They don't have any athletic wings who can play a little defense .(Meeks,X.Henry,W.Johnson) and K.Marshall left(they have Lin now). They don't have any rim protectors(neither did they have last year) and their bigs are bad defenders(Sacre,Boozer,Kelly), a rookie(Randle) and Ed Davis. At least last year they could stretch the floor a little. Pau and Kaman could shoot from mid-range.Also last year they run, this year with Kobe,Boozer and Nash what they will be doing?
Last year most of the team was injured and they got 27 wins. If healthy, this year they will be close to making playoff. But staying healthy is nearly impossible, so I don't think they will have a chance to playoff, but they should win more than 31.
Even with a healthy Nash and Kobe, Lakers are coming nowhere close to the playoffs. A 40 year old healthy Nash and a 36 year old Kobe retunring from a amjor injury surrounded by Johnson, Boozer and Hill with a bench of Lin, Swaggy P, Sacre, Randle, Xavier Henry. Bench is good but that starting 5 blows even with a healthy Nash and Kobe. Just no defense anywhere. West is too stacked for the Lakers to even sniff the playoffs unless other teams suffer major injuries.
Nash's problem is he cannot stay healthy, not that he cannot play at the age of 40. Same thing with Kobe, you think just 1 or 2 years Kobe's performance can drop by that much? If the laker team stay healthy, I think they can perform close to Phoenix, which finished 1 win short of playoff. But with Nash half way into retirement, unlikely he can stay healthy, so I say they will be around low 40 wins if Kobe stays healthy. And around mid 30s if Kobe is injured again.
That's the most optimistic outlook I've seen. I'd take somewhere between 30 and 35. I don't trust their health nor their chemistry. Kobe will kill swaggy p and lin will shrink