Los Angeles Lakers 2017 Season Preview: Draft Utopia

Los Angeles Lakers 2017 Season Preview

The Los Angeles Lakers will be much better defensively. With Julius Randle at power forward and Brook Lopez at center the Lakers front court could be pretty deadly.

Chris Ransom follow @DraftUtopia Posted on 3/6/2016.

A lot of Lakers fans including myself got concerned when Steve Nash got injured last season before the eventual decline of Jeremy Lin. Point guard Jordan Clarkson averaged 11.9 points per game with 3.2 assists per game, and 3.3 points per game. Also the Lakers drafted D'Angelo Russell as a point guard for depth behind Clarkson in case Clarkson struggles after previously being a sixth man to Lin to begin the 2014-2015 season.

Shooting guard Kobe Bryant did a solid job averaging 22.3 points per game until another season ending injury for the second year in a row. It's good to know that the Lakers also have Lou Williams who aveaged 15.5 points per game at shooting guard along with Jamal Brown who posted

Small forward Nick Young averaged 13.4 points per game. Young is a solid starter at small forward, but the Lakers could use some depth at small forward.

The Lakers are ready to start 2014 first round pick Julius Randle after a season ending injury kept him from playing as a rookie. Backup power forward Brandon Bass averaged 10.6 points per game. Plus there are rumors about the Lakers competing with the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers for Carlos Boozer who played with the Lakers last season so the possibility of Boozer returning is up for speculation as well.

The Lakers best move this offseason was trading for Roy Hibbert. Los Angeles could have taken Jahlil Okafor second overall, but instead decided to trade for Roy Hibbert and draft Russell as a depth player behind Clarkson.

I love the Lakers starting five. I have no doubt in my mind that this team will return to the playoffs even if it results in a first round exit. There's simply too much talent on this roster as long as Kobe Bryant stays healthy.