NBA: Power Ranking Every Team’s Bench Unit Entering 2016-17

25. Los Angeles Lakers

Starters – D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Luol Deng, Julius Randle, Timofey Mozgov

Bench – Marcelo Huertas, Lou Williams, Brandon Ingram, Larry Nance Jr., Ivica Zubac  

Just let this sink in for a minute – Kobe Bryant will not be playing in the NBA next season. His career is over.

It’s weird isn’t it? Well at least the Lakers will be decent next season. (Stop laughing, because I’m being serious!)

Byron Scott is out (thank goodness) and Luke Walton is in as head coach. If you’re doubting his potential as a first time head coach, just remember he’s been sharing the sideline with Steve Kerr and is a former NBA player. He knows basketball, and is young enough to relate to this extremely young core.

The starters for the Lakers are pretty set in stone IMO (as seen above), unless Walton wants No. 2 pick Brandon Ingram to start from the onset at the 3 (which is doubtful at best); so let’s move on to the bench.

Trying to make up this bench was probably one of the more difficult ones, as there have been many conflicting reports about what the Lakers are planning to do with their current roster. After sifting through the reports and combining it with my prior knowledge the finished product can be seen above, but it’s far from a finished product.

Huertas had some solid games for the Lakers last season, showing his incredible court vision and throwing up plenty of cross-court passes for a shooter open in the corner for a 3, or ooping it to a cutting Randle or Nance Jr.

Lou Williams is a microwave scorer, and always has been. He can be a pseudo-PG and another ball handler, but he is a sieve defensively.

Ingram is raw and is working on adding weight to his skinny frame, but you can’t help but see the similarities to KD’s career history. (I’m not saying he’ll have a KD-like career!) He should be a very solid player and another young piece to build around, but he won’t start day 1. He will terrorize opposing defenses with his length and athleticism.

Larry Nance Jr. is a highly athletic big who has some serious bounce in his step. He can posterize you any night of the week, but also has some great footwork for a  big man and has some decent court vision.

Zubac is the best option at backup center, and the Lakers should NOT let him play overseas this season. They’re not going to competing for a postseason berth anytime soon. Let him develop. Oh, and one scout said his ceiling is Marc Gasol.

Now, this is one of those rosters where some of the projected starters could end up on the bench by the end of the season, but for the beginning of the season this is what I’ll roll with.

This bench will be on #SCTop10 plenty of times this upcoming season, but will probably be in the bottom-10 in defensive and offensive efficiency.

Next: No. 24