16. LOS ANGELES LAKERS (31.5)
I could not in good conscience award the lottery-bound Lakers the tie-break over our next team, which sports one of the league's half-dozen most telegenic players. I am wary of Bill Macdonald, the Lakers hyperbolic play-by-play man, shrieking over every
Lonzo Ball assist as if they are historical events to be commemorated by our greatest poets.
But this team is going to be
fun. Brook Lopez's new 3-point range will open pathways for
Julius Randle and
Larry Nance to rampage to the rim. Nance is like an arthouse TV show with enough explosions and plot twists to reel in more casual fans. He's all flare screens and handoffs, catnip for nerds, and then, bam, he'll destroy someone --
hey, Brook! -- with a Statue of Liberty dunk.
I will die alone on Julius Randle Hill. The flaws are obvious: Randle can't protect the rim like a center, but he can't shoot as well the modern NBA requires from power forwards. I don't care. Teams need to think very hard before they give up on a big man who can handle and pass like this. Randle's in shape, and he has the goods to be an average defender if he goes all-out.
Teammates will love Ball's unselfish game, and play harder because of it.
Corey Brewer sprints so hard in transition, you almost fear for his safety. When he uses the rim to stop his momentum after a run-out dunk, he's flying so fast, he ends up hanging parallel to the ground with his feet under the backboard. It's scary.
The court is perfect. Never change it.