Stephen A. Smith isn’t expecting much from the Los Angeles Lakers this season and has questioned whether their new-look roster can compete with the Western Conference’s top teams.
Stephen A. Smith was asked where the ceiling is for this new-look Lakers team this season.
“Trip to the Western Conference semifinals,” said Smith on ESPN LA. “That’s about it. I can’t see the Los Angeles Lakers getting any further than that. Matter of fact, I’d be proud of them if they got that far.
“I don’t think Luka Doncic with Austin Reaves is a backcourt that’s going to scare anybody defensively. I don’t think that Walker Kessler is somebody that’s going to scare anybody offensively.”
“I dont see how this is going to usurp the likes of Minnesota, who now have LaMelo Ball or Denver, who has Jokic and Murray or San Antonio, who’s got Wemby or an Oklahoma City, who’s got Shai. So for me personally, I don’t even think about the Lakers until I get to the fifth seed of the Western Conference and even then that might be pushing it.”
Smith also questioned whether the Lakers made the right decision moving forward without LeBron James, who spent eight seasons in LA and helped deliver the franchise’s 2020 championship – their first since the Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol era in 2010.
“In the end, I see the Lakers moving in a different direction. Doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be a better direction. In a perfect world, you grab Walker Kessler, you re-sign Austin Reaves and Luka Dončić, and you still should have kept LeBron James there. That was something they were unable to do. I find it very very difficult to imagine that the Lakers are going to be better off without LeBron James this upcoming season.”
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