The Los Angeles Lakers essentially put together an all-new supporting cast around LeBron James and Anthony Davis this past winter when they brought aboard Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt in multiple trades.
Despite having to develop new chemistry on the fly, they managed to post one of the NBA’s best records and defensive ratings following the All-Star break, and they made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals. The organization managed to maintain that budding continuity this summer by re-signing Hachimura, Russell and Austin Reaves while also adding a few new role players via free agency.
Given that this current iteration of the Lakers has only been together for a few months, its chemistry is still a work in progress. It is something that LeBron James acknowledged after the team’s 100-95 win over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday (h/t Sports Illustrated).
Via NBA.com:
LeBron spoke about the team’s continuity as it stands early in the season and said, “It’s not where I want it to be, but that’s okay because it’s only the second game of the season. I’m not looking for it to be where we want it to be going down the stretch. We have new pieces we’re trying to integrate into the system, it’s going to take time.
“So, where the core has been kept intact, the guys are being asked to become the next version of themselves…it’s a process, a process that will take longer than two games—and that’s a good thing.
“There’s no way we should be where I want us to be right now,” LBJ said.
Los Angeles will have a couple of difficult games coming up in the next week against the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Clippers. However, after facing the Suns and the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets in its first two games of the season, its schedule is going to start to soften, which will give it an opportunity to forge deeper and more functional chemistry and cohesion.
