The “Baby Lakers” looked to be basement dwellers again this season, but their unexpected start has us re-evaluating their potential.
The Lakers are coming off maybe their lowest point in franchise history, and with a retiring Hall-of-Famer and a first-time coach, things didn’t look much brighter for 2016-17.
The additions of Jose Calderon, Timofey Mozgov, and Luol Deng garnered outrage, incredulity, and despair, but those three didn’t look capable of moving the needle (at least not in a positive way). Second overall pick Brandon Ingram was thought to be a future impact player, but rookies aren’t usually expected to substantially improve one of the worst teams in the league.