The Lakers Are On Fire And I'm Driving The Bandwagon.

This has been such a fun NBA season. The Warriors are still too good for the rest of the league. James Harden is continuing to prove that OKC trading him away was one of the dumbest moves of all time. The Cavs have been in a constant state of turmoil and no one knows where Lebron wants to go after this season. All of these things are great. But the Los Angeles Lakers are finally coming together around their young core and playing some great basketball. This has me more fired up than anything.

Since the beginning of January, the only team that has won more games than the Lakers in the NBA are the Houston Rockets. Let that sink in. The Lakers started the year as a lottery team being used as a punchline, especially when you factor in how hard everyone was being on Lonzo Ball. Lonzo started the season shooting at a god awful percentage, and with the way his jumper looks nobody is quick to give him the benefit of the doubt. Whatever, they stayed under the radar and the core of young talent has just gotten better and better as the season has progressed.

Now they’re sitting in no man’s land. Too good to have a shot at a high lottery pick but probably just a little too late to make a real playoff push. Who cares. They needed this to happen. They keep stacking up winning streaks and are playing the right way. Brandon Ingram just strained his groin but he has taken such a huge step this year. He was just too small and playing too hesitantly last year. He is so much more aggressive and decisive this season, and has really shown an ability to not only create good looks for himself, but also his teammates.

Isaiah Thomas III coming over from Cleveland has been a nice shot of energy. I loved this move as soon as I heard about it. He has no leverage and no other logical move to make other than to bust his ass for the rest of the year and try to build back some of his leverage going into free agency. He has already lost millions after the debacle with the Cavaliers, but he can use the rest of this season to prove that he can still be an elite volume scorer in the right situation. He has gotten better and better every game in LA, and the fast pace style we play is perfect for what he does best. Surrounded with shooters, he has been able to slash the lane and find open looks for himself and teammates. He has spaced the floor well when he’s had to relinquish ball handling duties to Lonzo Ball since his return, and I could totally see him signing another “prove it” deal with us this offseason.

Julius Randle has been a fucking bully this season. As an eternally optimistic fan of every team I have chosen to follow my whole life, I have been waiting for this to happen. Julius holds a special place in my heart as a Laker fan. As the transition to basketball after Kobe began, Julius Randle was our first high draft pick who I could invest some hope in. He was so big time out of University of Kentucky and was such an underrated athlete, I was very excited that he fell to the Lakers in the draft. It’s taken some time, but I think he is finally showing how deadly he can be in this league. He is so athletic and strong, and has developed his offensive skill set to a place where he’s a threat every time he touches the ball in transition. He gets to the rim so easily and then is just too strong to not at least draw a foul when he goes to finish. I love the way Luke Walton has used him this year, keeping his minutes somewhat low so that he can play max intensity whenever he’s on the court. I think he has proven that he is worth keeping around. His skill set is perfect for what the Lakers want to be doing offensively, and he has played so well with all the young talent around him. Please pay him this offseason.

I mentioned Brandon Ingram briefly prior, but he obviously gets his own paragraph too. Im all in on “Slender Man” Brandon Ingram. The comparison you always hear is a poor man’s Kevin Durant, but I think that’s lazy as hell. I won’t go as far as to say it’s racist, but it obviously just stems from the fact that they look like god chose the same body when he was designing them in his workshop. They were both big time college stars and went 2nd overall in the draft. Other than that, they have different strengths, especially at this early stage in Brandon Ingram’s career.

Brandon Ingram has progressed most impressively this year in his ability to get to the rim and finish through contact. He is so natural and easy with the ball, and even stepped in at PG for a while when Lonzo was out. He is quicker than he looks and so long that once he gets moving he can usually get to whatever spot he wants on the court. His passing and assist numbers have been solid, but he has seen his scoring totals go up around 9 PPG and that definitely starts and ends with his ability to drive aggressively and then create from there. He has shot impressively from 3 as well, and I think he has proven that he his worth waiting for his development to continue. I think he can be really, really good. He is never gonna be the same elite mid range score as Kevin Durant, but I think he can be a 22-25 PPG scorer who makes everyone around him better.

Let’s talk some Kyle Kuzma. Absolutely adore this kid. Such a cool story. The Lakers were so high on him going into the draft that they took him late 1st round, even as one of the only teams that had him rated that highly. I don’t know how Kuzma stayed so under the radar, but I’m definitely not complaining. I was confident he would work out, because when I heard the story about how impressed Magic Johnson was after his workout, I had no doubt he was the real deal. If you can impress Magic Johnson in an pre draft workout, you’ve probably got something special about you. Kuzma is the real fucking deal. He obviously pushed Larry Nance Jr out of the picture, and he was a guy who was taking minutes from Julius Randle last season.

Kuzma burst onto the scene in the summer league, and honestly I was unsure what to think. Every year someone lights up the summer league and more often than not they don’t produce the same way when the big lights come on. Kuzma obviously has proven that he can play at the highest level, and it was clear from the beginning that he plays like a guy who knows how good he is. That’s the coolest thing about him. He came to LA with zero expectations, with all the eyes on Lonzo Ball. He showed up and has just worked his ass of and shown that he probably should’ve been a top 5 pick. He has one of the purest 3 point jumpers in the league, and is another huge athlete who can run and jump and get to spots effortlessly. He has a sexy running hook shot that he can hit with both hands, and once again his confidence and swagger is so perfect for the LA scene and spotlight. I can’t wait to see how much better he gets as the games get more and more competitive and people start to expect them to win night after night.

Lonzo Ball. I feel like I needed to just say his name and let everyone get their emotions flowing before we talk about him. He is so goddamn polarizing at this stage in his career, it’s kind of incredible. Sure, most of that comes from his loud mouth dad who has no idea how to stop talking, but it still all eventually turns into a major spotlight pointed in his direction. He has been an enormously polarizing star since he burst onto the scene last year at UCLA, and naturally his shine has only gotten brighter wearing the legendary purple and gold. I think because of all this, he has had to play under the worst type of expectations imaginable; the type that can never be met because they are fueled and driven by hate and resentment. People like talking about Lonzo Ball because they want to see him fail. They hate his father, and they usually don’t like the Lakers because of their history of success. That’s the best part about the kid, though. He literally doesn’t hear any of the noise. He is so quiet and confident and poised. And his game speaks for itself.

The worst thing that could’ve happened to Lonzo is for him to shoot as well as he did last year when the spotlight was on him at UCLA. He came into the league as a guy with a reputation to spread the rock around and make everyone better, but also as a guy who can and SHOULD shoot the ball like Steph Curry. Everyone wanted him to show up and average 18 PPG with 4 three pointers a night. That’s just not his game. When you watch him pull down a rebound and turn his head up the court, the reason he is so highly regarded is easy to diagnose. His court vision and ability to make passes and create lanes for his teammates to finish easy baskets is already almost unmatched in the league.

His game reminds me of peak Rajon Rondo on those really good original big-3 teams. He literally existed to get open looks for the talent around him. His vision was elite and if you played off him he would collect easy layups like tokens in an old school video game. He never really had to develop a jump shot, but was able to hit open shots when he needed to. The difference is that Lonzo Ball is like 20 years old, and has proven that he can make open 3s in bunches.

If you take his numbers so far this year, even with the atrocious numbers from early in the season, he lines up right with Jason Kidd his rookie year. That’s not me saying that Lonzo is gonna turn into a Hall of Fame point guard, but it is me saying that people need to take a step back and appreciate what he is already doing his rookie year. He is filling up the stat sheet and once again, the difference in the way the team plays when he’s on the court vs. when he is off it is so clear. They play faster, smarter, and get so many more open looks; the exact thing you want the point guard for a good team to do. Lonzo is here to stay and it will be fun to see what he can do with another elite wing scorer to create for.

There are so many other guys on this young team who have stepped up this year and earned recognition. Brook Lopez has had some shaky moments but is still as reliable as ever. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been exactly as advertised. He scores when given the opportunity, and I could see him being an elite 6th man type scorer off the bench next year if we go and get another big name guy to add to the starting lineup. I know KCP is a free agent, but I don’t see why he wouldn’t want to stay in LA and be apart of something great, as long as he is allowed to fill the same role he has carved out for himself already here. Josh Hart out of Villanova has been another steal late in the draft, up until he broke his hand the other night. I love when 4-year guys at big time college programs succeed in the league. It just feels right. He was Big East player of the year last year, so I don’t know why anyone is surprised, but he was one of the biggest reasons the Lakers were finally able to part ways with Jordan Clarkson. He plays great defense and hits big shots and always makes the smart play. Clearly a product of playing on so many good teams and in so many big games at ‘Nova.

In terms of the future, I couldn’t be more excited. I’ve always been somewhat nervous that I would never be able to get as into the Lakers as I always was with Kobe. I guess it’s kind of like being a Yankee fan. When you go through a stretch of dominance like the late 90’s and early 2000’s, it’s hard to ever match that. Watching Kobe fade away was hard, but it’s easy to see that the Lakers are on the right track again. All of the young talent they have compiled is finally starting to show results, and that has put the Lakers in an unbelievable situation. We have a ton of cap room heading into the next two offseasons, and while I anticipate Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka are going to go after pretty much every big name free agent out there, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if we don’t land any, or even if we only land one.

Everyone wants to talk about Lebron James coming to LA, but frankly I don’t even know if I want that. Sure, it would be one of the coolest stories in sports in a long time. Lebron throwing aside everything he has tried to make people believe about him and going somewhere to be happy and have fun. He’s gotten his rings and now he wants to reinvent his image by being the aging stud surrounded by a team of up and coming stars. Plenty of hall of fame guys have chosen this path, but no one as legendary as Lebron. He could come to LA and win a ring or two and cement his legacy as the greatest to ever lace ’em up. But would that really maximize the potential that this young core has shown this season? I don’t think so. Again, Lebron is already one of the best of all time, but he is also a guy who is at his best when he gets to have the ball in his hands for most of the game. He likes to poke and prod at the defense, feeling his way through the game and filling up the stat sheet in whatever the most efficient way available is. It’s fun to watch, but it has only resulted in three rings, two of which came with the help of Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, both guys who will see their names in hall of fame discussions for years to come.

Rather than going all out for Lebron and giving him the keys to the Maserati that the Lakers have taken years to delicately assemble, I think they would be better off by continuing to sign as many talented players who fit the type of offense and style that we’ve been playing, and just keep letting these young guys get better. Would I love to see a guy like Paul George or Anthony Davis or Demar Derozan come to LA? Absolutely. But what about if it meant that Brandon Ingram would have to come off the bench? Yes, even then. There are worse things than a 21-year old wing scorer coming off the bench behind an MVP candidate type talent. Let him learn how to score in bunches against the 2nd unit and you can find ways to have him on the court with the starters as well. I don’t think that would stunt his development too much. You could also play him at the 2 guard spot beside one of these other elite wing scorers.

Either way, the Lakers don’t need to trade away any of these young core guys for picks in order to ensure they can get 2 huge names to LA. They are clearly ready to win with what they have already, and they’re clearly beginning to see how good they can be if they play the right way night after night. It is always gonna come down to defense, but when you can run teams out of the gym and put up 120 points, it gets easier to stop teams from scoring later in the game. Teams just can’t keep up with them for four quarters this year. Luke Walton has them playing such a fun type of game. They pass until they find the best look, but they also aren’t afraid to take open shots early in a possession if they’re available. We have a core in place that can turn into something special, if the right pieces and skill sets are assembled around them. All I’m saying is everyone better watch out, because this team isn’t going anywhere. The days of the Lakers being a punchline and lottery team are over. The future is now, and I’m driving the bandwagon. Buckle up. It’s time for the #LakeShow.