Lakers: Who Poses the Most Significant Threat To an L.A. Three-Peat?

On June 17, 2010, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics in an epic, defensively-orientated seven game series to repeat as NBA champions. During the summer of 2010, the landscape of the NBA has changed and although it seems that the power has shifted to the East somewhat, the NBA championship and the league's best team still remain in the West. Every free agent move in the summer of 2010 has paled in comparison to the star trio assembled in Miami, but despite the lack of press the Lakers have made great moves to improve their bench and give themselves more depth and toughness. Gone are the likes of Jordan Farmar and Josh Powell and new to the purple & gold lifestyle are the likes of Matt Barnes, Steve Blake and Theo Ratliff. Provided that everyone stays healthy, there's no reason that the Lakers can't come out of the West and get back to the NBA Finals for the fourth straight year, but it won't be easy, here are a few teams that might be potential roadblocks to celebrating another Larry O'Brien trophy in Tinseltown:

Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks have had a quiet, but productive off-season.They resigned Brenden Haywood and traded for Tyson Chandler, now they have a tough physical shot-blocker in both their starting lineup and their 2nd unit. With their size, rebounding and physicality in the post, the Mavericks are ready to give any team in the West a fight. My only concern is that Dallas is a team that will do great in the regular season, but fall apart in the postseason, let's see how they hold up this year.






Dallas Mavericks vs Los Angeles Lakers: LAL wins 4-2

San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs' core is old, but that's no reason to count them out. They still have the greatest power forward ever in Tim Duncan, one of the best PG's in the league in Tony Parker and one of the best sixth men in the league in Manu Ginobli. If anyone can top the Lakers out West, it's ...

About the Author