This is alien to Los Angeles Lakers fans, whatโs been going on in with the team the past two seasons. This upcoming season likely wonโt be much better either. Hope springs eternal on NBA opening night, but the L.A. Lakers have been given 1000/1 odds to win the NBA title
Lakerland hasnโt had much to cheer about since 2014 other than Kobe Bryantโs farewell. The only real moments of L.A. Lakers excitement came on Kobeโs farewell night, a going out party that manifested itself as a weird amalgam of a NBA All-Star Game, MTV Rock n Jock and WWE.
It was the only real bright spot in an otherwise dark season, and now itโs time for the Laker Nation to move on.
On the plus side, Sports Betting Dime does give the Lakers at 8/1, the 4th best odds of making the most improvement in win total over 2015-16. In other words, only three other teams in the NBA are expected to take a bigger step forward.ย They also give L.A. Lakers lottery pick Brandon Ingram the third best odds of winning the NBA Rookie of the Year Award at 5/1.
On the flip side though, they also see Los Angeles with the third โbestโ odds of finishing the year with the worst record in the league, at 6/1.
NBA legend and Turner Sports Analyst Reggie Miller did a media conference call previewing the season and he is just not high on the L.A. Lakers this upcoming season:
โIt will be tough. It has been a tough two seasons. You add some good young pieces โ [Brandon] Ingram, [DโAngelo] Russell, [Jordan] Clarkson.โ
โThese guys are young but they are talented with having [Kobe] Bryant gone now โ as great as he was- they can be out there and grow and learn,โ Miller continued.
โFor the franchiseโs sake you hope they are playing better and more confidently. It is more about them using this year as a chance to get better.โ
Okay so with a deep postseason run utterly unfathomable, and even a postseason berth very likely out of the question, what is 2016-17 L.A. Lakers basketball really going to be all about?
What is the point of the exercise?
โIt is about building towards the future,โ Miller said of the Lake Show big picture.
โThe Kobe show a season ago, DโAngelo and Jordan got caught up being spectators. Luke Walton is coming in with a totally new system. The hardcore four has to build towards the future.โ
Living out here in Los Angeles, this will always be a Lakers town. They need to win. If they can continue to get betterโฆit will be those four guys recruiting the players of the future.
โLarry Nance Jr. is critical in their success. He can do a little bit of everything at both ends of the floor. They have to continue to grow and learn the game of basketball.โ
Dig in L.A. Lakers fans, itโs going to be a very long season, but hopefully one that shows a substantial amount of growth.ย The lakers open the season Wednesday night when they hit the Houston Rockets.
Paul M. Banks runsย The Sports Bank.net, partnered withย FOX Sports Engage Network.ย andย News Now.ย Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEyeย publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country.ย Follow him onย Twitterย andย Instagramย and Sound Cloud.
