Even though they had a great offseason and are looking stronger than the last year, it seems that not many people believe the Los Angeles Lakers will win the NBA title in the upcoming campaign. A panel of ESPN’s experts voted for a potential NBA winner in the 2019-20 season, and they picked the Los Angeles Clippers instead.
The outcome of voting didn’t surprise anyone as the Clippers are the biggest favorites to win their first-ever NBA title, but still, it was surprising that the Lakers didn’t get a single vote to win the championship. Jalen Rose, a former NBA star and now a basketball analyst, didn’t participate in the voting, but he still has his own opinion about the matter. He is shocked that nobody selected the Lakers.
“It does surprise me,” Rose said. “There had to be one person in the room that felt like ‘they got LeBron and AD, they got a chance.’ It had to be one person in the room that felt that way.” “I understand, though, why there might be some reservations. I’m telling people that Kyle Kuzma is gonna create a legitimate big 3 in Los Angeles this year with the Lakers; some people seem to be more skeptical. He’s gonna prove a lot of people wrong. Their issue is who’s going to play point guard? And so that means, who’s gonna guard the point guard on the other team?”
The Lakers need a guy like Joakim Noah, not Dwight Howard. Let @JalenRose explain: pic.twitter.com/fCaNBgUnoE
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) August 21, 2019
Rose then explained how the Lakers depth changed after DeMarcus Cousins’ ACL injury.
“They’ll probably start JaVale McGee at the 5, so now AD becomes the backup 5, and so now you have AD, LeBron, Kyle Kuzma, who’s your other two? That’s why those people try to still figure out what’s next with the Lakers,” Rose added.
It’s going to be a long season, and the Lakers surely have enough quality to compete for the title, but whether they’ll actually win it, remains to be seen.
