[Image: Sports Illustrated]

Lebron’s Lakers are now 2-4. What can expect out of them for the rest of the season?

They have looked good at times throughout the first few games of the season, but at others, they looked like a team that is still trying to figure it out. Which, to be fair, is exactly what they are.

They were forced to make some changes to the starting lineup with the Ingram and Rondo suspensions. Josh Hart, Lonzo Ball, and Kyle Kuzma all had chances to start. Now that the two suspensions are finished, it will be interesting to see who gets the playing time for the Lakers now. The Lonzo, Kuzma lineup is definitely the lineup of the future, but are they confident enough to jump to it now? Rondo is 32, his prime is over and he’s clearly declining. He isn’t the future of this team. Kuzma and Ball are 23 and 21 years old, Ingram is 21. Josh Hart is 23.

The Lakers have some solid young talent. Right now, they are learning from the best player to ever play the game, watching how he plays and practices, how he handles everything. It’s the best possible position for future all-stars to be in. I think the Lakers know that and that is the primary reason for bringing Lebron in. They aren’t championship contenders. They have to know that. Lebron pushes them from a bad team to a playoff team, but they won’t win the West. They won’t make it to the Finals. They just aren’t there yet.

But they will be.

The Warriors can’t last forever. Eventually, players will want to leave or will retire, or want way more money than the Warriors should be able to afford. When that happens, there will be a few teams with really good players just hitting their primes that are poised to dominate. Will the Lakers be one of them? Quite possibly. They have plenty of young talent. The Nuggets are another team with solid young talent and everyone knows about Philly, but neither of those teams have Lebron teaching their youngsters. That could be a huge difference in the next 10 years in the NBA.

I am interested to see how the Lakers do this season. I think it’s going to be rocky for a bit longer while the figure it out. The Lakers are getting used to playing with a player of Lebron’s caliber on their team and Lebron is getting used to a new team. That takes time to fit together and start meshing. Once they’ve had 20 games under their belt, they’ll figure it out and slide into that number 5 seed in the West.

The Lakers are definitely a team to keep your eye on the next 5 years.