Lakers schedule for 2016-17 regular season officially released

The full Lakers schedule for next season is out, and there’s plenty to look at.

While we continue to wonder just what exactly the new-look Lakers will actually look like under Luke Walton, we now know who their opponents will be for the 2016-17 regular season.

Los Angeles will kick off the season at home on Oct. 26 as they host the Houston Rockets.

Houston isn’t nearly the hardest team they could have been paired with for an opener, but they’ll be enough of a test to make things really interesting.

After that, the Lakers will immediately face a four game road trip via visits to Utah, Oklahoma City, Indiana, and Atlanta.

Then they come home to face none other than the Golden State Warriors in only their second game at Staples Center of the regular season.

Out of these first six games, the one that should entice fans the most is the second overall game against the Jazz in Utah.

While it’s not a home game and not against the most exciting opponent, the game against Utah could be a good chance for the Lakers to measure just how far they have until they can compete for a chance to get into the playoffs.

The reason for that is simply because of how close we saw Utah get to being involved in the post-season a year ago.

With plenty of changes on their own end that were made for the better during the off-season, Utah will certainly be doing all it can for a playoff push.

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They were the last team the Lakers faced with Kobe Bryant on the roster and this will be our first time to see the young Lakers play a very similar Utah team but on their own.

Immediate comparisons and arguments will be drawn from this contest, and don’t be surprised if Los Angeles grabs their first road game of the year.

After coming back home to play the Warriors though, their next must-see game if you want to look at a comparable team would be Nov. 13 in Minnesota.

The young Timberwolves are also on the rise and will want to measure themselves as the Lakers will probably be doing all season long.

Now that even more of a core has been established for both teams, the exciting plays we’ll get to see from the next crop of stars at the professional level will be a sight to see.

Lastly, the Lakers got scheduled to face the Clippers on Christmas Day for the second consecutive season.

By that point we should know a lot, if not all, about where the season is heading for both of Los Angeles’ basketball clubs.

The Christmas Day game will be more of a battle for the city more than it will be a chance for the young Lakers to compare themselves to one of the better teams in the association — but we’ll be watching closely anyway.