Just what the San Antonio Spurs needed, another big man headed over to the Western Conference to make their lack of size even more obvious. This time it’s not just any big man, it’s THE big man.
Dwight Howard is all set to join the Los Angeles Lakers, a move that has to make Spurs fans cringe. Somehow missing out on Chris Paul turned out to be more beneficial to the Lakers than if they had gotten him. They now have Howard and Steve Nash, got to keep Pau Gasol and of course, still have Kobe Bryant. Throw in Metta World Peace or Antawn Jamison at small forward and you have arguably the best starting five in the NBA, and definitely the best in the Western Conference.
The Lakers could be like the Heat when LeBron James and Chris Bosh came to town. They got off to such a slow start because the team couldn’t gel and had to go through some growing pains to learn their roles. It could happen, but I doubt it.
Steve Nash is such a smart basketball player and he will be the glue that holds this team together. He’s going to run an incredible offense and I can see this team hopping right out of the gate.
I hate to say it, but the Western Conference has just become a race for second place. That might even be the case for the rest of the NBA too. I’m not sure the Heat could take down this new Lakers team. The difference between what the Lakers have done now and the Heat did 2 years ago is that the Heat left themselves without someone to run the offense and without a competent big man. The Lakers have filled in every position and they found the right guy in Nash to hold it all together. The bench will be suspect, but even that won’t matter.
I’m sure Spurs fans will hate me saying that the Lakers are going to run away with the conference title before they even play a game, but can you honestly remember the last time a team had this much talent assembled in one starting five? I can’t, at least not on paper.
It definitely pains me to have to say so many good things about the Lakers, but I can’t deny the talent. This team was built to win a championship right away. I think they’ll do just that.
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