I like your ranking, based on this article, 4 of the names are in the top 5 (https://www.persources.com/ranking-the-top-20-nba-players-2021/), but Leonard was not rank in the top 5, I think Leonard is just underrated where in reality, I see that he can carry a team and if he was not only injured during the NBA WCF, they could have gone to the NBA Finals by beating the Suns.

Oh he will be dangerous IF he could do that and that is probably what Sixers were expecting too that's why they agreed to give him a huge contract. It doesn't have to be three pointers. He should work on dropping more jumpers from the perimeter just like what CP3 does.

I also agree that the struggle is mental. He works with top coaches but it's still up to him to put what he learns to good use. He needs to get over that hurdle on his own.

That is a pretty good point you gave there. He will help players like Davies and Howard play better as they might get rested a bit more and he would get the chance to cover that up for them. All in all, I think this is a good decision from the Lakers' management side which might passively help Howard as he is aging and help him with his fitness as well.

That is really good news. LaMarcus Aldridge is one of my favorite players. I was so sad when he retired because of his health issues. And now that he is returning and Nets have Paul Millsap with them, it's gonna be an awesome season for the Nets. Even if they don't win the title, I am sure that they will be in the top three. Very eager to watch Aldridge play again.

Weird to see Deandre Jordan still getting decent payoff. I mean don't get me wrong he was an all-star caliber Center back in the day but 10 million a year for him? Are we really sure he worths that? Maybe some of that is paid by Nets or something and I do not have all the bits and pieces. Dude was a 7.5 points 7.5 rebounds per game Center. In any case it feels like Lakers doesn't have one proper Center so instead they got 3 veteran ones to cover the difference.

Howard, Gasol, Jordan get together and could certainly create a 48 minute Center rotation, put a bit of AD in there and you got yourself 10-12 minute per game 3 big guys. I would rather not have any of them and just have one proper Center, but they couldn't get one apparently. Rest of the team looks great as well, it certainly is a team to beat in NBA right now, they have all the great pieces to compete for a title.

That's usually the veteran minimum salary, so it will not reach to $10 million per year. However, the contract of Jordan is quite complicated as he came from NYK, got traded to Nets, and now he signed with the Lakers which I think his original contract is not yet over. As per the report, there's what we called waiver that he has to clear first.

But knowing the Lakers system, a bench is a bench no matter how solid it is.

If Anthony Davis will be healthy all season long, together with Lebron James, those newly acquired big men will mostly warm the bench most of the time or will just use when Lakers are now in the sure win.

I'm not expecting much on this Lakers bench. They are deep though compare to other teams but nothing special to me in terms of performance.

Yes, that's what I'm saying, no one on one trade for Ben, it's not going to be healthy for the any teams to trade their superstars to get Simmons who have issues. That's why just maybe a team can offer a lot of players as leverage (the receiving team can trade them as well), or some future picks, other than that, I'm going to be surprised to see Simmons landing to any championship contender teams.

Gasol is back to his old team, that's good for him, the Grizzlies now have two big men who can help to improve their defense.

The young Grizz showed their grit during the last playoffs, I expect them to be better in the next season as they have a big man with playoffs experience and a champion as well.

hopefully, Gasol will be able to get his numbers back.