Ah, the Lakers. A team which has had legends in every era play for it. Jerry West, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, and so many others wore the colors of Los Angeles night in and night out. However, with Kobe Bryant retiring, who will be the Next Great Laker?
Well, Kevin Durant is a free agent this offseason. What if? What if Kevin Durant took his talents to Hollywood and competed for the Lakers?
Well, as you can see in the image above, according to ESPN's NBA Trade Machine, the Lakers would win a whopping 13 more games with the addition of Durant to the roster. The scoring superstar and former MVP would really improve the team in LA.
Now this is a What-If scenario, so we are allowed to make assumptions. What if, with the addition of a superstar like Durant, the Lakers are able to attract more players? What if they attracted young center Hassan Whiteside?
Well, they would probably win 12 more games, according to the NBA Trade Machine.
Also, the 2016 NBA Draft is coming up soon. So that means the Lakers have a good chance at either Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram, both college stars who are both ready to play at the NBA level, which should increase the Lakers' wins by 5.
Another young star of the Lakers we're forgetting about is D'Angelo Russell. Magic Johnson will reportedly train Russell this offseason, which should boost the Lakers as well.
Now imagine, a young D'Angelo Russell tapping into his potential, the explosive Ben Simmons, the defensive-minded Whiteside, and the future Hall-of-Famer Kevin Durant on the floor as a team, backed up by young stars like Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr, truly bringing back Los Angeles as a contender.
Yes, you can argue that Durant wants to win now and would never go to LA, you can say that there's no guarantee that Simmons or Ingram would be stars in the league, and that Whiteside wouldn't come to the Lakers. But this is just a what-if, just an interesting scenario to think about.
