NBA: Re-seeding the Western Conference heading into 2019-20

4. Los Angeles Lakers

Last season: 37-45, 10th in Western Conference

Notable additions: Anthony Davis, Danny Green, Dwight Howard, Quinn Cook, Jared Dudley, Avery Bradley

Notable subtractions: Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, Reggie Bullock, Lance Stephenson, Tyson Chandler

I mentioned this in the intro, but just in case you’ve forgotten; this isn’t a ranking of the teams most likely to win the championship. Having Anthony Davis and LeBron James, one of the best superstar duos in recent memory, will bump the Lakers into the top tier of title contention come the playoffs.

Forget fit for now and just look at the raw talent of that tandem. James and Davis have two of the top twenty career scoring averages in NBA history. They are second and third all time in career player efficiency rating. They are two of the most talented forwards in the game today, and they are now on the same team. That alone should secure them a playoff spot, at the very least.

In the regular season, though, a lack of legitimate depth and some conservative load management might keep them just below the teams fighting for the top seed. James showed the first real signs of wear and tear from his long career last season, while Davis has an injury list to rival any superstar in the league’s history, meaning the Lakers will try to ease them through the regular season.

The rest of a potential starting five has plenty of permutations, but ESPN currently projects Rajon Rondo, Danny Green and Dwight Howard to round out the lineup. Quinn Cook, Kyle Kuzma, JaVale McGee, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope could also push for those spots, while Avery Bradley, Alex Caruso, Troy Daniels, and Jared Dudley would be hoping to at least crack into the regular rotation.

That’s a lot of names, but ask yourself this; how many of them can you count on as being consistent contributors? Kuzma has proven himself as a spark-plug scorer, and Green is a dependable 3-and-D wing. Outside of them, who can the Lakers really trust? Every other player fighting for minutes has huge question marks around some combination of their ability, their fit or their character.

All of this will add to the adjustment period for the players and new head coach Frank Vogel, as they all find their feet in a new setting with a lot of new faces. They should have it figured out to some degree by the postseason, but it might be a rocky road at times on the way there.