校对：Lincoln&FangSir
转自：湖人国度
湖人队在休赛期完成的引援在联盟中饱受争议。尽管质疑之声久经不绝，但他们仍可能在下赛季出人意料地成为冠军的有力争夺者。
今年湖人的休赛期是近几年中最有趣的。他们的举动既具有里程碑式的意义，而又具有争议性，正是这样，他们收到的评论毁誉参半。
湖人聚集了这样独特的队伍，他们在NBA推特上被称为“造梗小队”和“自杀小队”。有了像“指挥官”隆多、“师弟”斯蒂芬森、“冠军中锋”麦基和“CBA名宿”比斯利这样性格各异的球员，我们很容易理解为什么他们在一起会产生一些问题。
尽管不受大多数人的待见，这支湖人新军仍能轻松赢得很多比赛，并且让联盟中的一些球队感到惊讶。
他们不仅增加了一群可靠而坚韧的老将，他们还将联盟第一人——詹姆斯招致麾下，任何拥有詹姆斯的球队都不容小觑。湖人的年轻核心也被低估了，如果他们继续以现在的速度成长，他们的表现一定会让人震惊。
一些分析家预测这班性格各异的人组成的湖人将会错过季后赛。然而，这支队伍如果表现得比大部分人期待的好，在西部将非常容易进入前四的位置。
有一种常见的论点是，湖人队的阵容甚至不如上赛季的骑士队好。然而，在季后赛中JR的上场时间仅次于詹姆斯，而湖人在休赛期引进的球员中，也有超过5人的表现比他好。
湖人新成员之一比斯利说得最在理，他在采访中打消了“湖人将有一个问题不断的更衣室”这一观念。
“对我来说，我能在这里，甚至让我代表这些拥有不同性格的队友们发声，都证明我有足够的理智，我可不想让更衣室出乱子。”比斯利说，“作为一个评论员，你只是在做你的工作，如果每个人都做好自己的本职工作和停止评判一些球员，尤其是我，你会发现像我、尼克·杨、JR和斯蒂芬森这样的人其实知道如何打篮球，如何赢得篮球比赛，以及知道如何与他人相处。”
只有时间才能告诉我们这支球队是否能够在一起创造出足够的化学反应，从而成为冠军的有力竞争者。但如果他们被低估了，这可能给他们带来一种与世界抗争的精神。湖人队下个赛季震撼联盟的原因有很多，以下总结为五个最佳的原因。
5．他们上赛季与西部顶级球队的比赛中表现出色
湖人上个赛季只赢了35场比赛，但是他们在与联盟的强队比赛中有惊人的表现，特别是勇士和火箭。这两支球队显然是下赛季的前两名冠军竞争者，事实上湖人已经在对阵他们的比赛中取得了一些成功，这是一个非常积极的信号。
也许湖人本赛季最佳的胜利是在12月20日，他们击败了火箭，从而结束了他们的连胜。火箭队是联盟中战绩最好的球队，湖人以122比116击败了他们。当两队再次交锋时，湖人把他们拖进了双加时，最终只输了6分，也证明了他们的第一场胜利并非侥幸。
在勇士队的比赛中，他们每次碰面都输掉了比赛，但在四场比赛中，他们在两场比赛中都把他们逼到了加时赛。在两年前，他们甚至连续击败了卫冕冠军勇士队。
湖人的成功可能归结于勇士来到洛杉矶过度放松或者湖人主教练沃顿对这支勇士非常熟悉。但事实上，他们去年的每一场比赛都很接近，这提示湖人队能与联盟中最好的球队对阵，甚至在他们开展签约自由球员之前。
湖人在面对这些强队时最缺乏的是，缺乏有一个球星在关键时刻站出来。随着詹姆斯的加入，他们应该有更好的机会去击败那些球队，因为上赛季他在季后赛关键时刻的表现，足以展现出他是顶级的关键先生之一，尽管他在职业生涯的早期曾有过挣扎。
湖人上个赛季可能是一支倒数级别的球队，但是他们在对阵顶级球队时确实有过非常出色的表现。勇士和火箭肯定会是湖人需要击败的两支球队，以达到他们的最终目标，我们可以期待的是，他们的成功完全是有迹可循的。现在有了全新的阵容，他们有了更好的帮助，以对抗更顶尖的球队。
4．他们在自由市场中引进了湖人有史以来最伟大的球员之一
每当一支球队加入联盟中最好的球员时，他们就会立即被纳入夺冠热门队列之中，因为NBA是一个球星驱动的联盟。特别是当这位球星是詹姆斯时，他连续进入了8次总决赛，即使是在较弱的东部，这是一项几乎不可思议的壮举。
尽管上个赛季是他在NBA的第15个赛季，但仍然是他职业生涯中数据最好的赛季之一。他8.6个篮板和9.1个助攻均创下职业生涯新高。詹姆斯也证明了他可以在季后赛中带领球队，在骑士队夺取东部冠军的路上，他做了几乎所有的事情。
在过去詹姆斯两次换队中，他加盟的球队在常规赛中都大幅地增加了胜场次数，同时第一个赛季就带领球队进入总决赛。
在2010-11赛季，他备受争议地转会至热火后，他们的胜场相较上赛季增加了11场，在东部赛区他们的排名从第五升到第二。在2013-15赛季，骑士队增加了惊人的20个胜场，他们从一个乐透球队变成了东部第二好的球队。
詹姆斯这一次想让他的球队进入总决赛将会有更多的困难，但他可能会使上赛季常规赛胜场增加接近15场。这将使湖人获得50场胜利，在上赛季西部，他们就是3号种子了。如果湖人在能够下个赛季完成这一壮举，他们将会让联盟中的大部分人感到惊讶。
其他湖人队的自由球员签约也不应该被忽视。隆多
和麦基都参加过多次总决赛，同时会为球队增加经验丰富的领导力。史蒂芬森和比斯利也带来比赛经验和一定的韧性，这是上赛季球队所缺少的。史蒂芬森和比斯利也将增加上赛季球队缺少的经验和韧性。
3．选秀一如既往的优秀
现在还为时尚早，但是在看到湖人在夏季联赛的选秀后，他们看起来已经完成了下一场选秀。在第一轮和第二轮的末段，选秀一直是湖人队过去几个赛季的专长，今年也是如此。
湖人队第一需要的是中锋位置，他们至少在首轮中找到了一名合适的轮换球员。湖人选择了第25顺位新秀莫里茨·瓦格纳，看起来湖人又一次在首轮末端淘到宝了，他在第一年就能为湖人立即做出贡献。
他在大学打了三年的比赛，有丰富的经验，他在大三赛季进入了首发阵容，带领密歇根队一路挺进全国冠军联赛。他的身高略低于中锋的平均身高，但在夏季联赛中，他看起来很积极，而且防守的中锋个子比他大。看起来湖人将依靠他成为他们的大个子球员，因为他们没有在自由球员市场重新签回布鲁克·洛佩兹。
他们在NBA选秀中还有另外两个选择，但是都在第二轮。在第39顺位时，就选了艾赛克·邦加。在第47顺位，他们选择了斯维亚托斯拉夫·米哈伊鲁克。
具有讽刺意味的是，他们最后选择的米哈伊鲁克，是湖人队在拉斯维加斯锦标赛上最具NBA实力的球员，并入选获得了夏季联赛最佳第二阵容。
米哈伊鲁克在进攻端表现很好，三分的命中率非常高，而且他的控球和组织能力也比预期的要好。由于湖人的花名册上没有射手，他很容易就能在下个赛季打入轮换阵容。
有了能够积极贡献的新秀，会使湖人将成为联盟中最有深度阵容的球队之一。
2．他们会有更好的防守
上个赛季湖人的主要目标之一就是补强防守，而他们做到了。在2016-17赛季，湖人队作为联盟防守最差的球队之一，让对手在场上的投篮命中率超过48%。在2017-18赛季，他们在这方面有所改善，并且让他们的对手只有45%的命中率，这足以让他们在联盟中取得第十的防守效率。
他们在休赛期签下了新球员，并保留了他们最好的侧翼后卫波普，下赛季他们的防守会更好。
除了比斯利，他们所有加入的自由球员都是善于防守的球员，并能够在球场上防守多个位置。湖人的防守需要大量的转换到不同位置，而他们加入的球员，如隆多和斯蒂芬森将会很好地适应这种防守理念。
一个可以完成换防的先发阵容将会是以詹姆斯为中锋的小球阵容。他们对抗勇士的死亡五小名单将包括鲍尔、哈特、英格拉姆、库兹玛和詹姆斯，这些球员身高都在6尺5寸以上，并且都是高大的后卫。
他们可能比较挣扎的是詹姆斯在油漆区的内线防守，但他们能够很好地与以外线为主的顶级球队相抗衡。
1．年轻的核心已经做好了下一阶段的准备
那些说这支球队会错过季后赛的人都大大低估了湖人目前所拥有的优秀年轻球员。
在上个赛季，当他们的整个球队都很健康的时候，他们看起来已经很接近季后赛了。即使上个赛季英格拉姆和球哥都缺阵了超过20场，湖人仍然赢得了35场比赛，并将总胜场数提高了9场。
他们年轻的核心球员是成绩进步的最大原因。他们失去了朱利叶斯·兰德尔，他可以说是上赛季最优秀的年轻球员，但是他们保留了英格拉姆，鲍尔，库兹玛和哈特，他们所有看起来都是未来的湖人球星。
库兹玛上个赛季表现得最好，创造了一些湖人队史上新秀最好的得分数据。他是湖人的头号得分手，场均16.1分，并入选了新秀第一阵容。
但鲍尔和英格拉姆的成长空间最大，而且可以说他们的上限比他高，因为他们更年轻。他们现在都只有20岁，在他们短暂的NBA生涯中已经展现出了耀眼的光芒。
如果他们都能提高三分命中率，他们就有潜力在自己的位置上成长为全明星常客。这两名球员应该会从勒布朗和其他老将身上学到最多的东西，这可能使到联盟的其他人感到畏惧。
哈特上个赛季也打得很好，甚至在常规赛末打进了首发阵容。
尽管他取得了成功，他还是决定参加今年的夏季联赛，并主导了夏季联赛的赛场，也赢得了夏季联赛的MVP，带领湖人进入了总冠军争夺战。如果他能在今年的常规赛中获得动力，那么下个赛季他将会是湖人在替补席可用的强力武器，甚至有可能进入球队的首发。
詹姆斯已经习惯了和一群经验丰富的老将打球，但是和湖人年轻核心一起打球对他来说是个不错的改变。这肯定会给他注入前所未有的能量，而他也会反作用于这帮年轻人们，帮助他们在精神上和身体上提高。
这些崭露头角的年轻球星联合詹姆斯以及造梗小队的其他成员，要么可能会达不到预期效果，，要么则可能一鸣惊人，争夺下个赛季的总冠军。佩林卡和魔术师寻求建立一支平衡于经验老将及自家青年军的球队，而在完成这个方面的任务，他们着实干得不错。
原文:
Los Angeles Lakers: 5 reasons why they will surprise the league
The way the Los Angeles Lakers have built their roster this offseason has been questioned around the league. Despite that lingering doubt, they could end up being surprise contenders next season.
Cameron Salce
This Los Angeles Lakers offseason has been one of the most interesting in recent memory. Their moves have been both monumental and controversial, and they have been both praised and mocked because of them.
The Lakers have brought together such a unique group, that they have even been dubbed the “Meme Team” and the “Suicide Squad” on NBA Twitter. With a collection of personalities like Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson, JaVale McGee and Michael Beasley it is easy to see why there are some question marks about how they will perform together.
However, amidst all the hate, this new group of Lakers could easily win a bunch of games, and surprise some teams around the league next season.
Not only did they add a solid group of tough veterans, they also added arguably the best player in the game LeBron James and any team with him on the roster should not be taken lightly. The young core the Lakers kept on the roster is also being underrated, and if they continue to grow at the pace they are on, they will definitely shock people with their play.
Some analysts are projecting that the Lakers will miss the playoffs altogether with this ragtag group of misfits. However, this team could easily finish in the top four teams in the Western Conference if they get better than most people expect them too.
One common argument is that this Lakers roster is not even better the one that the Cavaliers had last season, that struggled at times. However, J.R. Smith played the next most minutes next to LeBron in the postseason and the Lakers arguably have more than five players that are better than him on their roster after their offseason acquisitions.
One of their new additions, Michael Beasley said it best when he brushed off the notion that the Lakers would be a tumultuous locker room.
“For there to even be a narrative of the personalities in this room is judgment enough for me, and I don’t want to be a part of that,” Beasley said. ”You being a critic doing your job, if everybody do their job and stop judging a lot of players — me mainly — you will figure out that guys like me, Nick Young, JR Smith and Lance Stephenson and guys like that know how to play basketball and win basketball games, know how to get along with others.”
Only time will tell if this team can build enough chemistry together to be a contender. But if they are being underrated, that could give them one way to bond, with an us against the world mentality. There are plenty of solid reasons why the Lakers will surprise the league next season, but this list narrows it down to the top five best ones.
5.They competed well against the top Western Conference teams last season
The Lakers only won 35 games last season, but they played surprisingly well against the teams that dominated the league, specifically the Warriors and Rockets. Those two teams are obviously the top two contenders going into next season, so the fact that the Lakers already had some mild success against them is a very positive sign.
Perhaps the best victory of the Lakers season came on December 20th when they defeated the Rockets breaking their long win streak. The Rockets were the team with the best record in the league, and the Lakers shocked them, beating them in Houston 122 to 116. The next time the two teams faced one another the Lakers pushed them to double overtime and only lost by six points, proving their first victory was no fluke.
Against the Warriors, they lost every time they met, but they pushed them to overtime in two out of the four games. The year before last season, they even pulled off an upset over the defending champs.
Their success could be explained by the Warriors relaxing when they come to Los Angeles or head coach Luke Walton‘s extreme familiarity with the team. But the fact that each game they played was close last year could suggest that the Lakers match up well with the best team in the league, even before all their free agency spending.
The one thing the Lakers lacked when they faced these teams was a star closer to get them a bucket in crunch time when they needed it most. Now with the addition of LeBron James, they should be in a much better position to beat those teams because he showed in the playoffs last season he is one of the best clutch players in the game right now, despite his struggles earlier in his career.
The Lakers might have been a bottom feeding team last season, but they did have some of their best games against the top tier teams in the league. The Warriors and Rockets will for sure be the two teams the Lakers will need to beat to get to their ultimate goal, so hopefully, their success was not just an apparition. Now with a revamped roster, they have the help they need to be even better against that top competition.
4.They added one of the best players of all-time in free agency
Anytime a team adds the best player in the league, they instantly get thrust into the championship conversation, because the NBA is a star-driven league. Especially when that star is LeBron James, he has been to the last 8 finals and even in a weak Eastern Conference that is a feat that is almost incomprehensible.
Even though last season was his 15th season in the league, he still put up one of the best statistical seasons of his career. He set career highs in rebounds with 8.6 and assists with 9.1. James also proved that he can carry his team in the playoffs as well, doing pretty much everything for the Cavs on their way to the Eastern Conference crown.
Both times LeBron switched teams in the past, the team that he joined enjoyed a substantial increase in regular season victories, and went to the NBA finals his first season with the team.
In the 2010-11 season following his controversial move to the Miami Heat, their win total increased by 11 games and they went from 5th to 2nd in the Eastern Conference. In 2013-15 the Cleveland Cavaliers record improved by a whopping 20 wins and they went from a lottery team to the 2nd best team in the East.
James will have a much more difficult time willing his team to the finals this time around, but he could add close to 15 wins to the regular season record from last season. That would put the Lakers at 50 wins, and that would have made them the three seed in the west last season. If the Lakers accomplished that feat next season, they will have surprised a good portion of the league already.
The other Lakers free agent signings should not be slept on as well. Both Rajon Rondo and JaVale McGee have played in multiple finals and will add veteran leadership. Stephenson and Beasley will also add experience and a certain toughness that this team was missing last season.
3.They drafted well again
It is still very early to tell, but after seeing the Lakers draft picks in Summer League, it looks like they nailed another draft with what they had to work with. Drafting at the end of round one and in the second round has been the Lakers specialty the past couple of seasons and this year was no different.
The Lakers number one need based on position was center, and they seemed to have found at least a rotational piece with their first-round draft choice. The Lakers chose Moritz Wagner with the 25th pick and he looks like he can be a steal and step in and contribute right away for the Lakers in year one.
He has solid experience playing three years in college and developed into a star his junior season carrying Michigan all the way to the national title game. He is slightly below average size for a center, but during summer league he looked active on the glass and was defending centers that were bigger than him. It looks like the Lakers are going to rely on him to be their stretch big man because they elected to not re-sign Brook Lopez in free agency.
They had two other selections in the NBA draft as well, but they both were in the second round. With the 39th pick, they took Isaac Bonga. With the 47th pick, they selected Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk.
Ironically their later pick Mykhailuk was the one that looked the most NBA ready in the Las Vegas tournament for the Lakers and he took home second-team All-Summer League honors because of it.
Mykhailuk looked very good on the offensive end, shooting threes at a spectacular percentage and also showed better ball handling and playmaking ability than was expected. Since the Lakers roster lacks shooters, he could easily find himself breaking into the lineup next season.
Having rookies that can come in and contribute positively, will allow the Lakers to have one of the deepest rotations in the league.
2.They will have an improved defense
One of the Lakers’ main goals last season was to improve on the defensive side of the ball and they accomplished it. In the 2016-17 season, the Lakers finished as one of the worst teams in the league defensively, letting opponents shoot over 48 percent from the field. In 2017-18 they improved that percentage a ton, and let their opponents shoot only 45 percent, which was good enough to finish 10th best in the league in that category.
With their new pieces they signed in the offseason, and retaining their best wing defender Kentavious Caldwell-Pope they can be even better on defense next season.
Besides Beasley, all of their free agent acquisitions are plus defenders and can defend multiple spots on the court. The Lakers defense involves a ton of switching on to players of different positions, and the guys they added like Rondo and Stephenson will fit well with that defensive philosophy.
One lineup that could accomplish the switch everything defense would be a small ball line up that features LeBron at the center position. Their version of the Warriors line up of death would include Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, and James, players that are all over 6’5″ and are long defenders.
They might struggle defending teams on the interior with LeBron guarding the paint, but they could match up really well with the top teams that are primarily perimeter oriented.
1.The young core is ready to take the next step
People that are saying that this team will miss the playoffs are vastly underrating the great young players that already Lakers had on the roster.
When their entire team was healthy last season, they already looked close to being a playoff team. Even with Ingram and Ball missing more than 20 games each last season the Lakers still managed to win 35 games and improve their win total by nine games.
Their young core was the biggest reason why their record was much improved. They lost Julius Randle, who was arguably the best young player from last season, but they held on to Ingram, Ball, Kyle Kuzma, and Josh Hart who all look like they can be future Laker stars.
Kuzma played the best of the bunch last season, putting up some of the best scoring numbers for a rookie in Lakers history. He was the Lakers leading scorer, averaging 16.1 points a game and made the All-Rookie First team.
But Ball and Ingram have the most room to grow and arguably have higher ceilings than he does because they are younger. They both are currently only 20 years old and they have already shown flashes of brilliance in their short NBA careers.
If they both can improve their 3-point shooting, they have the potential to develop into perennial All-Stars at their positions. These two guys should benefit the most learning from LeBron and the rest of the veterans, so that could be scary for the rest of the league.
Josh Hart also played well last season and even broke into the starting lineup at the end of the year.
Despite his success, he decided to take on the challenge of playing in this year’s Summer League and he dominated, winning the MVP of the tournament and carrying the Lakers to the championship game. If he can take momentum into this year’s regular season, then he will be a great weapon for the Lakers to utilize off the bench next season and could even push to start.
James is used to playing with a group of proven veterans, but playing alongside the Lakers young core could be a nice change up for him. It will certainly give him a jolt of energy and he will, in turn, help all of them improve their game both mentally and physically.
These budding young stars combined with LeBron James and the rest of the Meme Team could fall flat or their faces or they could also shock the league and compete for a title next season. Rob Pelinka and Magic sought out to build this team with a balance of experienced veterans to go along with their homegrown youth, and they did a decent job of accomplishing that.
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