Quentin Grimes has warned critics against underestimating the new-look Los Angeles Lakers.
“I feel like we’re going to surprise some people for sure with how good we are and clicking on all cylinders, I think,” Grimes told ESPN’s “Mason & Ireland” on Tuesday, via LakersNation.
Several analysts have opined that the Lakers, despite onboarding nine new pieces this season, don’t have the roster to compete against the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs — the consensus two best teams in the Western Conference. The Athletic’s Law Murray, for example, argued that nearly all the new Lakers acquisitions are offensively-skewed players, which may not bode well for a Luka Doncic-led team.
Will Lakers Defense Struggle?
Murray doesn’t expect the Lakers to make a significant leap defensively after JJ Redick’s team finished with the 20th-ranked defense last year.
“The Lakers should remain offensively capable; they added aggressive offensive players in [Collin] Sexton, Grimes, and [Sandro] Mamukelashvili while acquiring a center with All-Defense potential in [Walker] Kessler. [Cameron] Carr offers upside.
“But none of these new Lakers have any track record of postseason success. Kessler and Sexton are still waiting to play in the postseason for the first time,” added the Lakers writer. “The defense will still be in trouble if Kessler needs secondary rim protection, and he isn’t going to be the kind of center that can stop players on the perimeter.”
Grimes Fires Back at Lakers Critics
Other analysts such as Stephen A. Smith and Antonio Daniels have also argued that the Lakers will be a middling team at best and may even struggle to secure a top-5 seed.
Grimes disagrees with those critics. On Tuesday, he broke down what he, Mamukelashvili, Sexton and Kessler bring to the table, and how they can help the Lakers’ star backcourt duo of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
“AR had a fantastic season last year, well-deserving of the contract he got and everything,” Grimes stressed. “He’s one of the best scorers in the NBA, probably. Walker (Kessler), you know, is one of the best rim protectors.
“I know he only played like four or five games last year, but everybody knows what he does,” Grimes said of Kessler. “Nobody wants to go in that paint, 7’2” guy he’s going to block shots. He’s going to give us a definite advantage because people aren’t gonna go in that paint, so we can guard and put pressure on the ball even more knowing we got big Walker down in the paint holding it down,” he added.
Grimes noted that he and the new-look Lakers have already developed chemistry after working out in their recent minicamp, and are eager to show what they can do.
“We got guys like Collin (Sexton), a dog. (Sandro) Mamu, a dog, already getting out here and getting work in. So, it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
The Lakers (+3500) enter the new season with the 12th-shortest odds to win the NBA title and the fifth-shortest odds to represent the West in the championship round.
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