The Lonzo Ball hype machine will be in full force in LA this year, but that does not mean that the Lakers will be any good. This team was expecting to get Paul George, but he just told the press that he might stay in OKC. He never said all those words, but he made it look like he wants to remain there. The Lakers have a ton of young talent and a young coach. They just got fined for tampering, and they might need a couple more years to develop a team that can be competitive. So what are they doing this year with a hot young point guard who does not talk?
Pray he is brilliant
The Lakers can only sit back and pray that Ball is brilliant when he plays in the league regular season. They need to hope that he can get the team behind him, and they have to hope that people will want to come play with him as a result. They might not get Paul George, but they need to find veterans who want to play with Ball because he can distribute the ball in the way that they need.
LeBron
There is nothing that the Lakers can do to convince LeBron to come to LA. If he wants to play for the Lakers, he will just show up and sign a contract. Lonzo Ball cannot do anything to make the team look more attractive, and that is not his job. Lonzo has to get better so that he can be a superstar when he is 23 or 24.
LeBron might be retired by then, and the Lakers would have to have a whole roster around Lonzo that is not based on superstar signings. This means that they might have to draft everyone they need.
Waiting out the Warriors
As much fun as the Warriors are to watch, they are not going to last forever. There will come a point when they are no longer a viable title contender, and that is when teams like the Lakers can rise from the ashes and take over the western conference.
The Warriors own this conference for at least another two years, and there would be no reason to try to be competitive knowing that the Warriors will win the next two titles. If the Lakers are willing to wait, they can go on another run that would start about ten years after the last one ended. That is pretty typical for them, and it could produce a few titles.
Doing their own thing
The Lakers need to stay the course and do their own thing because they are not going to get any better if they are constantly trying to keep up with the rest of the league. They are too far behind to try to play the game everyone else is playing. They need to jump ahead, wait until the league catches up, and play the best basketball possible with Lonzo running the ship. What he does this season does not matter.
