Sports
Lakers Players Under Most Pressure Entering 2023-24 NBA Season – Bleacher Report
The Los Angeles Lakers had a hugely productive 2023 NBA offseason, retaining nearly all of their key free agents, locking up Anthony Davis for the long haul and making some external additions that should improve the depth and collective talent of this rotation.
That’s good news on almost every front, except for maybe one: Pressure is now cranked all the way up heading into the 203-24 campaign.
Now, these aren’t exactly uncharted waters for a club that plays under the Hollywood spotlight and has basically been living the championship-or-bust life ever since LeBron James took his talents to L.A. But this front office, which has made a few massive missteps during James’ tenure, absolutely aced its job this time around.
Now, the onus is on the players to do the same. While this entire roster has pressure to perform, the following three players will feel the brunt of it.
The long-awaited baton passing from James to Anthony Davis as L.A.’s focal point hasn’t really happened yet. While the Lakers have won with these two in a 1A-1B type of partnership, that setup probably has an expiration date. James has defied the aging process thus far, but with his 39th birthday looming in December, that can’t happen forever.
L.A. needs Davis to be consistently dominant. He can do that, but it hasn’t always happened. He gets lost in the offensive shuffle at times and has more fluctuation with his production on that end than you’d expect of a player with this kind of talent.
More than that, though, he needs to simply be available more often. He hasn’t topped 60 games in the past three seasons and last cleared the 70-game mark in 2017-18. With availability becoming an increasing issue for James, L.A. must be able to count on having Davis.
He also put pen to paper on the richest annual extension recently—a colossal three-year, $186 million deal tying him to the team through 2028. The Lakers needed to know they’ll Davis to help steer them through their post-LeBron future, but they’re also counting on the Brow to play a huge (if not leading) role in their upcoming championship quest.
Austin Reaves has spent the past two seasons transforming from a pleasant surprise for the Purple and Gold to one of the most important players in Laker Land. But last season’s post All-Star surge suggests his ascension could climb several more levels yet, and L.A. just placed a $53.8 million wager on that coming to fruition.
Expectations keep climbing—a summer spent with Team USA further ramped them up—but his challenge isn’t simply keeping up with this raising bar. He is, officially, the third option on a championship contender, and the Lakers are ready to increase his on-ball opportunities.
L.A. clearly thinks there is more to his game, and since he’s a 25-year-old who’s only played two NBA season, there certainly could be. But even mirroring his post-All-Star production (17.6 points on 57.8/44.3/85.6 shooting and 5.5 assists) will be tricky, because he was so effective and efficient.
That’s the new assignment for Reaves, though. The days of finding his niche and proving his worth as an NBA player are over. The Lakers see an All-Star future in front of him, and their championship path will look significantly smoother if he makes them look prescient.
As a 27-year-old with an All-Star selection and some gaudy stats on his resume, D’Angelo Russell may have envisioned a more lucrative ending to his free-agency venture this summer. Signing a two-year, $36 million contract is hardly a rough day at the office, but in the NBA economy, this isn’t how in-prime stars are compensated.
Then again, Russell is four full seasons removed from that All-Star honor, and there are lingering questions about how much his numbers actually help. Career averages of 17.7 points and 5.7 assists might paint him as something close to a difference-maker, but his teams have historically fared better without him.
So, on a micro level, he is in need of some reputation repairs. He had a disastrous end to his most recent playoff run (6.3 points on 32.3/13.3/75 shooting over his final four outings) and has some uncertainty hovering above his future. Newcomer Gabe Vincent could bump Russell out of the starting lineup, and the Lakers worked an escape clause into his contract in case they need to trade him.
There’s a scenario in which Russell spends this season starting for and significantly contributing to a team with championship aspirations. But there’s another in which he spends the first half of the campaign in a reserve role and the second half in a different uniform.
