Coming off a championship season, the Los Angeles Lakers made some big moves as they prepare for the mission to repeat. The Purple & Gold locked both superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis for at least the next three seasons.
In addition to that, the Lakers got Dennis Schroder, Montrezl Harrell, Marc Gasol and Wesley Matthews while parting ways with Rajon Rondo, Danny Green, Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee. NBA executives and scouts that took part in ESPN’s offseason poll believe that the defending NBA champions had the best offseason.
The Lakers led the voting with 4 votes, followed by the Atlanta Hawks (2), Oklahoma City Thunder (1) and the Philadelphia 76ers (1).
One Eastern Conference scout singled out Gasol as a big upgrade for Los Angeles. The 35-year-old center and former NBA champion lacks the athleticism of McGee and Howard but he’s an improvement in other aspects, according to the scout.
Per Tim Bontemps of ESPN:
“Gasol, what an under-the-radar pickup there,” an Eastern Conference scout said. “To play solidly and a high basketball IQ. … Now, [JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard] were long and athletic and protected the rim, so they lost that.
“But while Gasol may not protect the rim like them, he’s better at everything else.”
