Many people are interested to watch the new-look roster the Los Angeles Lakers
have put together this summer. They lost a number of starters and rotation players from last year's team, including LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and Marcus Smart, but they added quality players such as center Walker Kessler, guard Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton, big man Sandro Mamukelashvili and 3-and-D wing Matisse Thybulle.Plenty of people expect the Lakers to take at least half a step backward this coming season, and some may even expect them to miss the playoffs. Danny Green, who played for the Lakers' last championship-winning team in 2020, said that he likes how this season's roster is constructed, but he cautioned that he doesn't know if it will have any playoff success,
via Lakers Nation.
“I mean, at first I wasn’t sure where they were going the direction and then everything happened so fast. ... And I liked a lot of the pieces they picked up. I know they’re young, so not super experienced. I think they’re going to be a pretty good regular season team. Playoffs, I don’t know because of the youth and experience, but I like the moves they made, I like the pieces they have. They have more depth, they got younger and faster. They can get out and run a little more.”
The team does appear to be more balanced and fluid this season, and its bench should do better offensively. Last season, L.A. was 29th in bench scoring, and the addition of Sexton in particular should help rectify that problem.
Green named Sexton, Mamukelashvili and forward Ziaire Williams as three newcomers in particular who should make a tangible impact.
“There’s a couple of people, man. Obviously we know what Austin [Reaves] and Luka [Doncic] can do and then you got a lot of heavy on Walker Kessler. But I’m looking at guys like the rook, Cameron Carr, but like Ziaire and Mamu. Like those two guys, Collin Sexton, a defensive presence that could come off the bench or start, be a point guard for them. Those three guys, to me, can be X-factors for the group, like what Jake [LaRavia] was last year. Jake can still carry that over and be better, but I think those three guys are guys that I’m looking at that can probably make a jump and make this team dangerous, if they progress.”
Williams has the potential to become a bona fide 3-and-D player if he improves on his 34.3% 3-point shooting mark from last season. Mamukelashvili is a multi-skilled hybrid power forward/center who can hit from the outside, operate off the dribble, make proper passes, rebound and even handle the ball in transition.
Fans are hoping that for the Lakers, the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Danny Green praises Lakers' new additions — with one caveat
