Lakers Will Finish In Top Five In Scoring During Regular Season
This is more of a given than it is a prediction because of how many offensive weapons the Los Angeles Lakers have entering the year. LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Schroder, and Montrezl Harrell are the four main offensive weapons on this team heading into the year and all have a chance to be 18+ points/game scorers over the course of the 2020-21 NBA season.
LeBron James may even benefit offensively as a result of the offseason acquisition of Dennis Schroder. The last two seasons, James has been the Lakers’ primary ball-handler and has been the point guard of the team since they have not had a reliable, true point guard. Now, with Dennis Schroder expected to be the starting point guard for the Lakers this upcoming season, LeBron can move back to his traditional position at small-forward.
Not only does this make him a better offensive player, since he will not have all the pressure put on him to make something happen offensively, but could allow LeBron James to be more of a facilitator during the regular season and save all of his energy for the playoffs. He still played at a high-level in the NBA bubble in Orlando last postseason, but you could see that LeBron was gassed and as he gets older, this could be a common theme with “The King.”
He will definitely continue to play at the highest level he physically can, but the Lakers do need to take into consideration that LeBron is getting older and they need him to play at his highest level in the playoffs, which is why they went out and brought in Schroder. Back when he was with the Miami Heat, when he had a legit point guard in Mario Chalmers, LeBron James was almost unstoppable on the wing, which is what the Lakers hope to get from their four-time Finals MVP.
Given all of their scoring options both in the starting rotation and on their bench, the Lakers should be one of the best offensive teams in the NBA and as a result, will finish in the top-five in points per game for the 2020-21 NBA season.
