6. Los Angeles Lakers
Key offseason move: Re-signed Austin Reaves, signed Gabe Vincent
Fresh off a surprising run to the Western Conference Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers entered the offseason with a willingness to improve their roster if the opportunity presented itself but also with the reality of not much financial flexibility. In the end, the Lakers managed to do fairly well by reshuffling their supporting cast while also retaining a few important pieces from last year’s surprising deep run in the NBA Playoffs.
The Lakers took the chance on a couple of low-risk, high-reward reclamation projects, highlighted by the addition of Cam Reddish, and also managed to address the point guard position by signing Gabe Vincent away from the Miami Heat. The Lakers also did well by re-signing Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and D’Angelo Russell.
If the Lakers can’t stay healthy for the duration of the regular season, you’d have to imagine that this is a team that can make some noise in the Western Conference. And if LeBron James can play at a relatively high level heading into next years’ postseason, the Lakers could emerge as another dark horse candidate to make another deep run.