(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Some analysts have deemed the Los Angeles Lakers the biggest winners of the offseason.
They managed to keep all their core players together while also adding a couple of spare pieces for depth and 3-and-D purposes.
However, they’re still pretty much the same team that lost 0-4 to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals just weeks ago, and as better as they might seem on paper, NBA analyst Ric Bucher believes they haven’t closed that gap yet.
.@RicBucher: The Lakers haven’t closed the gap with the Nuggets because…
“They haven’t solved the problem of their nucleus. The combination of Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic, and Aaron Gordon.” pic.twitter.com/UY0LOalwZ8
— Speak (@SpeakOnFS1) July 3, 2023
Bucher cites that, although losing Bruce Brown is a big blow for the Nuggets, they still have several pieces that could step up in his role.
Moreover, he says that they still haven’t figured out a way to prevent Nikola Jokic from being a triple-double machine, and they have yet to crack the code to dominate their nucleus of Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon.
Bucher also explained that the Nuggets winning a championship gives them a whole new layer of confidence they didn’t have last season.
No situation or deficit will feel too big or overwhelming, as they already know what it takes to win and get over the hump together, and that’s something one cannot underestimate when discussing their chances of winning back-to-back championships.
One could argue that the loss of Brown will be huge for the Nuggets’ defense and energy, but they still have their main four guys.
As for the Lakers, they were close in all four games, but it’s not like they signed or traded for anyone who could contain Jokic.
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