The Los Angeles Lakers have plenty to feel good about as they enter the offseason. While they would’ve loved their chances in the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat, this roster doesn’t need a significant overhaul in order for LeBron James and company to reach the mountaintop again.
Essentially, the overhaul was done at the trade deadline, when the Lakers added Rui Hachimura Jared Vanderbilt and D’Angelo Russell and jettisoned Russell Westbrook, Kendrick Nunn, Thomas Bryant and Patrick Beverly.
While Hachimura and Vanderbilt endeared themselves to Lakers Nation with clutch shot-making (in Hachimura’s case) and elite perimeter and rim defense (in Vanderbilt’s case), momentum is building toward Russell leaving this summer as a free agent.