After an outstanding run to end the regular season and a trip to the Western Conference Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers are coming into the 2023-24 season with some high expectations. The team brought most of the core of last season’s team including guard Austin Reaves, who many believe will take another leap in his development this year.
Along with Reaves, the Lakers also brought back Rui Hachimura and D’Angelo Russell while adding some talented pieces in free agency such as Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince and Christian Wood. All this has led to many believing the Lakers are real championship contenders and Reaves is completely on board with that.
Reaves recently appeared on The Lowe Post podcast with Zach Lowe and discussed why he believes the Lakers are true contenders, noting how the team went on their run last year without ever really being able to build chemistry, something he believes will be done now that they can have a full training camp together:
“Yeah, I do. Like you said we brought back basically a core that went to the Western Conference Finals. You can call it fluky whatever you want, but after the trade deadline I think we had maybe the second or third best record in the league…Like you said [LeBron] being hurt, not even really having any time to mesh really. Things were, after the trade deadline, kinda just thrown out there. We had so much talent and we relied on our talent so much that it took us that far…I think, especially now and then training camp coming up, us being able to have the opportunity to grow [chemistry], and just situations to where like in the fourth if we have a couple bad possessions that we know exactly what we’re gonna get to…Just those little things, having this whole time to learn that and do that, I think that’ll elevate us to another level. We brought in a lot of guys that are super talented. I would argue we have the most talented roster in the league from top to bottom. Getting Christian Wood on a minimum. Gabe [Vincent] coming from a Finals appearance. We have a lot of guys that are super talented and just getting this time to really build a foundation with one another is gonna help us a lot.”
Reaves mentioned how the Denver Nuggets had built a chemistry together due to many of them having played together for years and, at the very least, having training camp and a full season together to really learn each other. The Lakers having that opportunity this year could make a world of difference especially with the talent they have assembled.
As Reaves said, this roster may be the most talented and deep in the entire NBA. There will be things the Lakers have to work out as the season goes on and, of course, health will be of the utmost importance. But the pieces are there for the Lakers to make a run to the NBA Championship.
Lakers Media Day to take place on Monday, October 2
And the road to hopefully achieving that ultimate goal is right around the corner as Lakers Media Day will take place on Monday, Oct. 2. The entire team will be in attendance in uniform and giving their thoughts on the upcoming season.
Head coach Darvin Ham and general manager Rob Pelinka will be speaking prior to that day, but it still marks the official start of the season as training camp kicks off the following day and the preseason soon after.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
