Almost immediately after winning the 2020 NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers’ focus shifted to next year. In fact, LeBron James told Anthony Davis that they have more work to do effectively at the final buzzer of game six against the Heat. The franchise is aiming to win its 18th championship to surpass the Boston Celtics in the coming season.
If you ask Danny Green, the Lakers have a great chance of doing that. The Lakers’ starting shooting guard spoke to Adam Zagoria of Forbes Magazine and sounded confident in the Lakers’ chances of winning the title again next year:
“For sure, I think we can definitely get one more for sure,” Green said in a phone interview to announce The Battle Basketball Showcase on November 20th & 21st at the Allen Event Center in Dallas that will feature Bronny James and Sierra Canyon (CA) against Emoni Bates and Ypsi Prep (MI).
“It’s going to be tough because we have so many free agents, with 10 guys that are free agents. Trying to bring everybody back and reconstruct the contracts, it’s going to be difficult, but when you have the nucleus of LeBron and AD — if they bring back AD — that’s pretty much what you need. You don’t need much else around them.”
Green is one of the Lakers who is not a free agent nor has an opt-out in his contract to become one. Barring a big trade in the offseason, he should be back alongside James and Davis (who will be opting out of his contract to re-sign with the Lakers, per reports) in search of his fourth ring.
The Western Conference will likely be even more brutal next year with the Warriors coming back healthy and the Clippers now having win-at-all-costs expectations. Still, the Lakers showed their star power, their depth, and their mentality all season long and should be among the favorites to win the championship once again next year. The purple and gold have won championships at the turn of each of the past three decades but the last two times came as part of at least a repeat. We’ll have to wait and see if they can repeat history once again.
One thought