Will They Repeat?!

With a record setting short off season over and the 2021 NBA Season already underway the Lakers' Championship defense has already begun! As many key moves were made in the off-season that once again reshaped the league, has any team gathered enough talent to compete with Los Angeles? To begin we can stay in the West. Last season began with everyone ranting and raving over the Clippers after the combination of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, but we all know how that went. Fast forward to a year later and now if anything I believe the Clippers have become less of a threat than they were last year. In the off season the Clippers signed Serge Ibaka as a low presence however they lost Montrezl Harrell to the Lakers and also head coach Doc Rivers to the Philadelphia Sixers. I do not believe that Paul George is a bad player, but I do believe he has always found a way to choke in the playoffs and I foresee much of the same for the Clippers this year. Besides the Clippers are there even any other teams in the West that could possibly compete with the Lakers in a 7 game series? I do not believe so. The LeBron effect has truly taken place in the Western Conference. After almost two full decades dominating a "weak" Eastern Conference, I would say the West seems pretty lackluster to me. Now let's look at the East, and yes, clearly the Brooklyn Nets are the new "unstoppable threat" right now...but how true is this? To think of the combination of 3 top 20 players, two of which are top 10, on the same team seems pretty unfair right? For me, it's too early for me to jump all over Brooklyn, and if anything I have more questions than answers. Brooklyn's new look offense will clearly have firepower, but what about their defense? I'm not picking on James Harden the same way everyone does, but instead I am looking at their overall roster. With the combination of Harden, Kyrie, and Durant on the floor they become a very small team vulnerable to a team with big men. I'm curious to see how this team plays for the remainder of the season as they will get crucial time together on the court before the playoffs begin, and now there are talks about signing DeAndre Jordan to help aid with their lack of size.

But who else? Are there any other teams that could rise to the occasion this post-season? Possibly Milwaukee, but Giannis, In my opinion, needs to prove that he can carry over his regular season game into the post-season. He has continued to be ousted early in the playoffs and to me Milwaukee is still not a valid threat. Look what Miami did to the Bucks last year, many were surprised by this, but to me it was nothing new. The only other potential contender I see having any chance to match up with Los Angeles is possibly the Philadelphia Sixers. They had a very good off-season signing veterans Danny Green, and Dwight Howard. They also signed Seth Curry as an outside shooter along with hiring the Clippers ex-coach Doc Rivers. If this team can somehow put enough offense together they would be more than capable of competing with the Lakers. Even with all the moves made this off-season, the Lakers may of had the best off-season of them all. They received Montrezl Harrel from the Clippers, along with ex all-star's in Dennis Schroder and Marc Gasol. The Lakers know exactly what kind of team they are, and with LeBron somehow managing to keep his level of play at an all time high I see LeBron and company repeating this year.