Lakers: Why the Lakers will win a championship by 2020
By Jason Reed
1. The young talent will progress fast together
Finally, the Lakers have developed a blueprint of young stars that can build upon each other and grow with one another to form something special. The Golden State Warriors’ young core grew together nicely, giving the Lakers a blueprint to follow. Although the Lakers’ youth will be nowhere as successful as the 73-9 Warriors, the blueprint is there.
Except instead of throwing up three balls and playing a fast-paced offense, the Lakers have two stars whose play complements each other. Lonzo Ball is a pass-first floor general that will get his entire team involved. As Lonzo Ball’s scoring begins to transition to the NBA level and as his defense improves, the ceiling becomes superstardom.
Ball was the perfect piece to put alongside Brandon Ingram. Although D’Angelo Russell is very talented, the duo never seemed to be a great partnership. Now, Ingram has the pass-first guard that runs a high-tempo offense that allows him to score. Ingram needs to be the scorer on this team and with Ball he can become just that.
While other pieces such as Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and Kyle Kuzma exist, the future is up in the air. Kuzma was just drafted, so he seems to be a lock to stay, but the same cannot be said about Clarkson and Randle. However, if either of the duo departs via trade, it is only setting up the second reason why the Lakers will win a title.