There is no team that generates more expectations in NBA season that will start this Tuesday like the Lakers. No one has filled as many pages this summer in the run-up to a championship reaching its 75th anniversary as the team from The Angels. Neither the ambitious project of the Brooklyn networks, whom the general managers of the 30 franchises see as clear favorites to the title (72% in the survey), nor the Milwaukee Bucks, about which there has been little noise since they lifted the title in July and who maintain their base around Giannis Antetokounmpo.The summer landing of a handful of veteran stars at Staples Center has only one goal: the assault on the championship ring. Russell westbrook (33 years), Carmelo anthony (37), Dwight howard (35), DeAndre Jordan (33), Tsavor Ariza (36), Rondo region (35) form the luxury payroll that has answered the call from Lebron James to join his particular crusade.
It’s not one more monday
It’s the Monday of a week that the NBA returns
October 20 at @movistarnba # 75th anniversary pic.twitter.com/CyxnPNYd64
– NBA Spain (@NBAspain) October 18, 2021
Time runs against the Lakers star, who will turn 37 this December. LeBron dreams of the fifth ring that equals him Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson and Tim Duncan and brought you closer to the legend of Jordan (6). You need results and you need them now. For that he has resorted to the formula of the ‘super team’ (together with Head and Wade) that has already paid off in his time in Miami (two rings) and in his first year in Los Angeles (he recruited Anthony Davis, Rondo, Howard) and with which he will try to counter the ambitious bet of the Networking that still does not materialize.
More figures
The franchise of Brooklyn He has not stopped adding aces to the deck he handles Steve Nash: Patty Mills and Paul Millsap join a changing room that has Kevin Durant, James Harden, LaMarcus Aldrige and Blake Griffin and that he trusts that the physical problems that he experienced last season do not separate him from the destiny that he seems to have marked.
The controversial absence of Kyrie irving in the squad while maintaining its refusal to be vaccinated has emerged in recent weeks as the only Achilles heel of New Yorkers, who await with open arms a rethinking by the base of Australian origin to round off their bet.
In the fourth season of LeBron, the third of Anthony Davis, and the first of Westbrook, that completes the new ‘Big three’ of Los Angeles, there are only five of the players who won the title in 2020 and there are nine new faces to integrate into the new project of Frank Vogel. But that roster of newcomers is full of veteran players. The Lakers will be the oldest team in the League with an average of 31 years, four more than the average of the League. Although they do not only generate expectations. Also quite a few doubts about how they will respond in a championship in which the youngsters have long passed the door.
New faces
Antetokounmpo, at 26 years old, he consecrated himself and consecrated Dollars last July with the second title in history, half a century after they got it Lew alcindor (later christened Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Oscar robertson. But Phoenix reached the finals with two rising stars, Devin Booker (25 years old) and DeAndre Ayton (23) Atlanta Hawks they reached the eastern end around the escort Bring young (23), Denver Nuggets I bet you Nikola Jokic, last season’s MVP (26 years old) and the return of the Canadian guard Jamal murray (24), recovering from a ligament injury, to take the last step, just like the Dallas mavericks trust the leadership of Luka doncic (22 years old) and the step in front of the irregular Kristaps Porzingis (26) to boost your candidacy.
In this scenario, it will be necessary to see how the Warriors from Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, who will recover Klay Thompson for Christmas and await the hatching of number two in the 2020 draft, James Wiseman, the sparklers Chicago Bulls from Zach Lavine with the arrival of DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball. And what is the end of the pulse that keeps Ben simmons with Philadelphia 76ers, after requesting a transfer that has not yet arrived.
The Sixers They have long been called to live great moments of glory with the block led by the Australian point guard of 2.08, and the Cameroonian center Joel embiid (27 years and 2.13), although those moments have not just arrived.
The main changes
Russell Westbrook. It is one of the names of the new course. He lands on the Lakers from Washington. The 2016-17 season MVP and nine-time All Star, he has averaged a triple-double in four of the past five seasons.
Kyle Lowry. After 9 seasons with the Raptors, whom he helped win the championship, the point guard arrives at the Miami Heat to try to make the jump.
Kemba Walker. The Celtics’ bet on the four-time All-Star didn’t work out. Now he comes to the Knicks, his hometown team, a challenge for this Bronx-born point guard, four-time All Star who averages 19.9 points in his career.
DeMar DeRozan. His mission at the Spurs to make Kawhi Leonard forget did not come to fruition. His destination is Chicago, where he will try with the Bulls to maintain his average of 20 points in his last eight seasons.
Jonas Valančiūnas. The Lithuanian center shone with the Grizzlies last season (17.1 points and 12, 5 rebounds) and now I want to do it with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Patty mills. Ten seasons at Spurs have marked the career of the Australian guard, who now adds his talent to the Nets stars.
Montrezl harrell. The award for the best sixth man in the League earned him the jump a year ago from the Clippers to the Lakers, where he has failed to curdle. Washington is your new home.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.