Thought Starter...
The Lakers have played 10 games. At 6-4, the overall record is solid enough. They’re keeping up in a brutal Western Conference where 11 teams are .500 or better, and a 12th (San Antonio) is just one game under. (By comparison, the 3rd seed in the East is Indiana, at 5-5.)
So what do we know about the team at this point?
Broadly speaking, things feel a lot like they did last year. Which really shouldn’t surprise anyone, since it’s basically last year’s team. You could argue it’s even a little worse, because Taurean Prince (maligned as he was) is currently a more reliable NBA player than Dalton Knecht. So it makes sense that the rebounding project that was so talked about in the preseason hasn’t really worked out in the regular season. The gulf between offense (top 5) and defense (bottom 5) is still there. The shooting volume is up slightly, but the success rate is down.
What’s good?
Anthony Davis was a fantastic last year, and looks even better this season. LeBron after a slow couple of games looks like LeBron, and Austin Reaves looks like he’s elevating. But (there’s always a but...) Max Christie? Oof. Rui Hachimura? Hit and miss. D’Angelo Russell? Coming off the bench... though not exactly in the same way and for the same reasons as last year.
Christian Wood? Jarred Vanderbilt? Still hurt.
So what have we learned about this team 10 games in?
Three Questions...
1. Where can the Lakers find internal improvement?
2. What happens if Vando and Wood are delayed indefinitely?
3. How is Redick different from Darvin?
