How Do the New Look Lakers Stack Up in a New Look Western Conference?

The Lakers are a radically different team this year than last. Better? Worse? About the same?  You could make an argument for all three. But at the least, it's easy to say that the team's floor could be a little higher, assuming good health. And any drop off really depends a lot on your thoughts about losing LeBron. What does it mean that he's no longer on the roster, even as the Lakers arguably improved in a lot of other places?  There's definitely a blueprint in place, even if the construction isn't complete at this point.  At the same time, the Western Conference itself has been pretty radically reshaped. While the teams at the top are still quite elite (San Antonio had a very low stress offseason, and the Thunder have so much depth they can handle a little bit of roster attrition), there are big question marks in Denver and Minnesota, at the least. Meanwhile, teams like Portland (post Ja Morant trade), Dallas (trying to win now, plus Kyrie is back) and Utah (trying to win now, have a solid roster) could/should win more (or even a lot more) games than last year.  So where do the Lakers fit in?  We discuss.    HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky  SEGMENT 1: The Lakers are much different. Are they better? Worse? About the same? SEGMENT 2: What might make you more comfortable about their chances?  SEGMENT 3: What about the rest of the West?  Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub   Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! OdooGreat organizations win because operations matter. And that’s why you should get Odoo. Try for free today at https://Odoo.com/lockedon.  FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COMto play Daily Dingers and make your free pick on who’s hitting a homer this MLB season.   FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.