Lakers Roster for 2016-17 Season: Strengths in Russell, Ingram, Clarkson and Randle - The Future of the Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers has had a tough stretch of seasons. Last time they made the playoffs was in 2014 when they placed seventh in the Western Conference but got eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Last season, the Lakers had their worst franchise season record with only 17 wins.
Add to that the retirement of Lakers great Kobe Bryant last season, who scored 60 points in his last game, perhaps the greatest final game performance by any player in any sport.
The good news: the Lakers have another season to regroup and hopefully perform better and make it to the playoffs.
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Los Angeles Lakers Roster
The 2016-17 Los Angeles Lakers roster is composed of the following players with their respective positions:
Point Guards: Jordan Clarkson, D'Angelo Russell, Marcelo Huertas, Jose Calderon
Shooting Guard: Louis Williams
Small Forwards: Luol Deng, Brandon Ingram, Nick Young, Metta World Peace, Anthony Brown
Power Forwards: Brandon Bass, Ryan Kelly, Larry Nance Jr., Julius Randle
Centers: Timofey Mozgov, Robert Sacre, Tarik Black, Ivica Zubac
Strong Young Core
The young core the Lakers fans are waiting for is composed of D'Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, and the latest addition, number 2 overall pick Brandon Ingram. The talented young group is the face of the Lakers' future.
Russell has shown in the summer league that he has significantly improved his three-point shooting, maintained his passing prowess, and stepped up on his competitiveness this year, even sinking a three-point buzzer beater in the summer league game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Julius Randle averaged 11.3 points, 1.8 assists and 10.2 rebounds last season, solid numbers. Randle had defensive struggles though, and only had a 43 percent field goal percentage.
Randle is confident that he will improve under the tutelage of Luke Walton, who helped Draymond Green become the all-around star that he is today. If all goes well, Randle could be the next Green.
New Coach
Luke Walton signed a five-year deal to coach the Los Angeles Lakers. Prior to that, he was an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors and played with the Lakers for nine seasons.
Bruce Fraser, Warriors assistant coach, believes the Lakers will benefit much from Walton's head coaching. "They'll communicate. They'll have fun without the working culture and they'll be competitive, have that competitive spirit."
Fraser added that the Lakers "will play the right way, they'll play a good brand with his IQ."
Ingram Facing Physical Challenges
Brandom Ingram, this year's second overall draft pick, draws comparisons with Kevin Durant. In fact, Durant said that he was really impressed with Ingram and that he was "even farther along than he was at that age."
Ingram did well in the earlier stages of the 2016 NBA Summer League. But in his last two summer league games, when teams decided they were going to play physical against him, Ingram didn't fare so well, scoring seven points in both games on poor shooting performances.
Ingram needs to gain some muscle to compete with the big bodies in the league. A positive aspect that can be taken away from this, though, is that according to Jesse Murmuys, Lakers assistant coach, Ingram keeps on trying and attacking despite the physicality he had to face.
Zubac, the Biggest Surprise
Ivica Zubac, the 7'1" number 2 overall draft pick from Croatia, performed beyond expectations during the NBA summer league.
Zubac averaged 10.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.6 blocks in five summer league games. He was also very accurate, shooting 65 percent. His last game against the Utah Jazz was also a monster, getting 16 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and having 6 blocks.
The Lakers had a positive performance in the summer league. Coach Luke Walton is elated, saying that he's "very pleased with the way the guys are playing, acting, representing themselves."
