In a typical year, July 1st is an imaginative day for the NBA – when organizations reach huge free agency goals and start imagining what their team will be.
The four-month hiatus has restored this timeline as the Lakers continue to reunite and unite what they want to regain when they resume playing Disney World later this month.
On Wednesday, coach Frank Vogel opened the training ground with individual training and a better perception of what the best-seeded Lakers will do in Orlando. The team still focuses on Dwight Howard, the 34-year-old center who has not fully committed to participating in the restart, joining the team. The team also officially added JR Smith, who will take the role vacated by Avery Bradley.
The Lakers probably had the greatest momentum in the league when the NBA came to an abrupt halt on March 11: they had just knocked out Milwaukee and Clippers, the other two most serious title contenders, in consecutive games. While there are a myriad of unknowns about the physical and mental toll to resume the season during the COVID-19 pandemic, Vogel said he believed the Lakers would be able to grasp some of the traits that made them the team’s No. 1 West through the first 63 games.
“Just because our chemistry was great at the end of the break doesn’t mean it will be there to start – we have to work on all these things,” he said. “But what I learned about this group is that they are engaged, they like each other, they like the system we are playing in. And all those signs of character that we have with this group, the work ethic we have with this group , all these things lead me to believe that we will do the job. ”
While Howard seemed to give up in June if restarting was a good idea, in part because of the social justice interests that many players pursue, the Lakers have shown these days that they believe the All-Star will be available eight times. the playoffs. General manager Rob Pelinka said the team was working closely with Howard and the league to deal with mitigating circumstances: the mother of one of her children died in April.
The July 1 roster deadline means that Howard will be considered a participant and the Lakers are not planning to sign a replacement player as they did for Bradley.
“We have no intention of replacing Dwight’s spot roster,” said Vogel, “when we believe he hopes he will be able to join us.”
Smith didn’t attend the Lakers’ training camp on Wednesday – Vogel said he has only had an introductory conversation with the 15-year veteran guard so far. But the Lakers appreciated Smith for his experience with LeBron James, with whom he played in four consecutive finals.
“His familiarity with LeBron and the way we built our team, of course, around LeBron, there are many similarities to the things they did in Cleveland,” said Vogel. “This is definitely a factor in what we believe JR can bring to the table in what will be a very short time to acclimatise.”
Time will be of the essence: the Lakers have less than a month to prepare for the seasonal reopening against the Clippers on July 30th, and practices at their El Segundo facility are unlikely to include group sessions for precautionary reasons. While Pelinka and Vogel reiterated that the players showed themselves fit, Alex Caruso compared his conditioning to the preseason levels.
“Just like the hardest part for us, I think it is going back to being able to physically do what we were able to do with regards to the start of assignments, being physically ready for box out, being physical enough to beat teams like the Clippers, like the Bucks, like the Rockets, like the Nuggets, “said Caruso.” I’m just going back to that fitness, being able to do it at night, take a day off, go out at night , keep going back and forth for a month and a half. ”
While some teams have been open on which players have had positive results, the Lakers have refused to acknowledge who even participated in Wednesday’s training sessions – although Caruso said he had finished training in the morning. The Lakers also published photos of LeBron James and Anthony Davis at the practice facility.
The team plans to continue not to disclose the health of any kind, citing privacy laws – a significant deviation from the accident reports of normal NBA activities.
Additionally, the Lakers are not publicly disclosing their initial 35-person travel party, although the versatility recognized by Vogel will be a reward for all staff members traveling with the team to Orlando. Like the world, Vogel said the Lakers have started expanding their virtual options to adapt to the NBA guidelines for limited staff who will be able to stay at Disney World.
One of the hardest things to prepare for is the grueling nature of being a cloister in Florida, largely away from family and friends. Vogel said the coaching staff is spending at least some of their time trying to think about how to keep players busy in a post-season period that could last more than 100 days.
While Caruso has recognized how difficult it is likely to be, he also embraces that challenge.
“This is something I personally like,” he said. “I can’t wait to face the challenge of lasting. To be the team that can be the strongest mentally, the strongest mentally and say, “Yes, we could be on this isolated campus for three months, but we have a goal, we have a mission and it won’t influence us by looking for that ultimate goal. and finish the job. ”
The new nature of the quarantined postseason and the absences that are already beginning to accumulate have led some to question the legitimacy of the pursuit of the title. Even if the Lakers manage to win their 17th championship this October, does an asterisk arrive?
If anything, Vogel said, the extraordinary circumstances the NBA is facing should only burn the reputation of the prospective winner.
“This year our team has lived a lot, we have endured, we have come out strong every time we have faced adversity,” he said. “If we are able – I don’t know any other teams – but if we have managed to overcome all this and reach the final prize, I think it deserves a” harder than normal “asterisk if you are going to put an asterisk on it. I don’t think that weaken it at all. ”
