Los Angeles Lakers

While they did not make any trades at the trade deadline this year, the Los Angeles Lakers will be signing Andre Drummond when he clears waivers. The former 2x All-Star center was bought out of his contract by the Cleveland Cavaliers and as a result, will sign with the defending champion Lakers. 

Los Angeles has slipped in the standings over the last few weeks due to LeBron James and Anthony Davis being out with separate injuries, but at full strength, the Lakers are definitely still the team to beat in the Western Conference. They may not be the #1 overall seed come playoff time, but LeBron James is still one of the most dominant players in the league at 36-years-old and they are still the defending champions. 

With James, Davis and now Drummond, the Lakers have three All-Star players and they have a really solid supporting cast in Dennis Schroder, Montrezl Harrell and Kyle Kuzma. As a result of them being such a great defensive team, the Lakers will be a really tough team to beat come playoff time. 

Last year, defense and rebounding is what made the L.A. Lakers such a tough team to beat and while they have slipped down the rankings in rebounding, they will get a much needed boost by the addition of Andre Drummond. 

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Many people around the league have given up on Andre Drummond for some reason, but he is still a high-level center that can go out and produce a double-double any given night. He is still one of the best rebounding centers in the entire NBA, which is why he will have a huge impact on the Los Angeles Lakers. 

There are very few teams that have the offensive firepower to be able to beat this defensive-minded Lakers team and with no blueprint around the league to stop LeBron James after 17 years, the Lakers should once again be a force in the Western Conference come playoff time.