This is incredibly difficult to do for three reasons:

#1 Avoiding injuries for only one season is nearly impossible let alone two

#2 Other teams poach your role players

#3 Your competition improves and is on to what you do

As great as Joker, his side kicks and coach Malone are I don’t see that other superstar sidekick like Kobe was to Shaq or Wade was to LeBron (a team that was lucky as hell to win Back to back actually). Murray and Gordon are wonderful impact players but they can’t put the team on their back as multidimensional players and spell the Joker. However we unpack all the variables it’s just pretty likely that something will trip them up.

The window is open this year for us the Thunder, Phoenix, Dallas and possibly the Pels depending on Zion’s health. All of these teams are going to continue to improve and Denver will start taking losses to them.

Win or lose Friday’s tilt is going to be a good gauge for where both teams are at.

Well, let’s not get ahead. Pels is a critical game

If we play reasonably well, the Lakers got no chance. It’s entirely on us

1) Record. They have played the 10th toughest schedule but they’ve also had healthy LeBron putting up numbers and healthy AD being a two-way monster. They did miss some role-players . But also got lucky breaks. Beat PHX barely 3 times, twice no Beal, twice no Booker. They did beat OKC – on a massive shooting outlier. When LA shot about their average and OKC far below it, Lakers got blown out – and that’s on relatively low turnovers with 10 more free throws. There’s very few convincing wins there and a whole bunch of bad losses (Chicago, Miami were atrocious performances).
2) As a consequence, their net rating ain’t that of a good team.
3) Health concerns, who expects Bron and AD to play 140 combined games? And if they do, are they 100% for the playoffs?
4) They’re bad on the road.
5) Their offense stinks.
6) They aren’t versatile.
7) With a tighter whistle in the playoffs, their free throw edge is likely to decrease.
8) They aren’t versatile on offense. Pack the paint, close out on Prince, do a decent job vs DLo and Reaves. Don’t foul, give AD and Bron their bad mid-range shots. What means do they have to adjust offensively? I don’t think they have any.
9) They lack two-way players and the only point-of-attack defense they have is Vando who can’t stay on the floor on offense.
10) Inconsistent effort will kill their regular season record.
11) Mediocre coaching.

And the big points:

12) Chemistry issues: reports of Reaves being displeased with Ham. Bron giving up vs Miami 5 minutes into the first quarter, with the game tight. Bron skipping the presser. Something’s brewing there.

I fully expect LeBron to do his yearly cry for help before the trade deadline. But let’s be honest, his leadership stinks. He’s incapable of accepting an alpha next to his passive-aggressive persona. Then he gives up on the team to ‘send a message’ playing absolutely no D – while AD is playing his heart out. That can’t possibly sit well with AD. He knows who takes defensive possessions off and it’s mostly DLo and Bron. Did the same shit when Russ was there: AD rushed back from a minor injury because they needed wins, him and Russ hustled, it sparked the team (funny how that was the case in almost every game without LeBron but then goes to shit with him, 🤔 – those 1st quarter issues they got, not surprised in the slightest).

Bron is amazing, his skillset is, what he’s done off-court is. His on-court persona and lobbying is not. He’s dodging accountability for his flaws, showing up teammates when he’s at fault, having them fear a trade before every trade deadline, having them do 90% of the dirty work. Yes, there’s age but the solution for the team is not taking plays off that often, it’s playing far fewer minutes – which he won’t do because he’s concerned about stats and narratives, only after that he’s looking at winning.

Why do you think they blew up their championship roster and traded for Russ? There’s a LOT wrong in Lakerland, they’re just glossing over the biggest problem. Yes, with max effort and the usual help from the refs (God, is AD’s grunting on every single drive annoying, alongside Bron behaving like a toddler to the refs) – they can still be dangerous with all their length, rebounding and defensive potential. But they aren’t a threat, not now, not after a trade. Coaching, leadership and offense are nowhere near championship level