Is it the consensus that the 2021 Lakers would have won the title barring ADs injury?

[ArbitraryWater]

Continuation of this thread, where the poll is not public:
http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?512250-Is-it-the-consensus-that-the-2021-Lakers-would-have-won-the-title-barring-ADs-injury


They led the Suns 2-1 and they were tied at home with 50 seconds left in the first half when he went down...


Do you think they win the championship, or:

1) still lose to the Suns
2) lose to the Leonard-less Clippers
3) lose to the Bucks


Vote in the poll!

[ArbitraryWater]

So far:


Yeah I would have given them a decent shot. At a minimum they make the Finals, given the injuries to the Nuggets & Clippers. Lakers didn't have as much firepower as this year's team did, but they had Caruso, Drummond, Wes Matthews & Marc Gasol, so I think they could have done a decent job at limiting Giannis. Lakers had the #1 defense despite the Bran & AD injuries that season which is wild.



I watched some of the Suns game 2 highlights, things were looking bright here:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvCpwLkWiqY&pp=ygUYc2NocsO2ZGVyIHZzIHN1bnMgZ2FtZSAy



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXW6TnnJDZ0&pp=ygUXZHJ1bW1vbmQgdnMgc3VucyBnYW1lIDI%3D

[ArbitraryWater]

Benefit of seing who voted.

So you can safely categorize votes by rabid haters like Airupthere:


Lol, giving bran an imaginary ring now based on AD not getting an injury? I thought bran can take any ragtag group to the finals? Then why is it contingent to AD not getting injured?

lol

[Airupthere]

Benefit of seing who voted.

So you can safely categorize votes by rabid haters like Airupthere:



lol

I know getting swept hurts and you're trying to find some moral victory from a hypothetical situation. Give yourself a couple more days.

[GimmeThat]

I know getting swept hurts and you're trying to find some moral victory from a hypothetical situation. Give yourself a couple more days.

Austin Reeves, is that you

[Naero]

Assuming all other teams have the same injuries? Probably.

They’d return to the Finals at the very least. The short-handed Nuggets and Clippers had no fighting chance, and it was uphill enough even for the Suns with a one-armed CP3. The Bucks would give them a run for their money, though the Lakers—unlike the Suns—had the ideal personnel and coaching to defend Giannis.

If everyone was at full strength, however? The odds would clearly be against the Lakers.

AD’s been woefully inconsistent ever since the 2020 chip even when healthy, and that’d come back to bite the P&G against any elite team (as it did against this year’s Nuggets). The Nets with their complement of stars would be comfortably favored over them, and probably the Clippers as well. Even the Suns—who almost went up 2-0 despite a near-unplayable CP3–could have ousted them.

Hence I’m not sure what’s the point of this one-sided hypothetical. The Lakers were far from the most unfortunate team—much less the only one—insofar as injuries went that year, and they’re certainly not the only one who could’ve capitalized on the clear field if they were among the few healthy contenders.

[tpols]

They were killing the sun's with AD playing. And without him took a record loss.

[ArbitraryWater]

Assuming all other teams have the same injuries? Probably.

They’d return to the Finals at the very least. The short-handed Nuggets and Clippers had no fighting chance, and it was uphill enough even for the Suns with a one-armed CP3. The Bucks would give them a run for their money, though the Lakers—unlike the Suns—had the ideal personnel and coaching to defend Giannis.

If everyone was at full strength, however? The odds would clearly be against the Lakers.

AD’s been woefully inconsistent ever since the 2020 chip even when healthy, and that’d come back to bite the P&G against any elite team (as it did against this year’s Nuggets). The Nets with their complement of stars would be comfortably favored over them, and probably the Clippers as well. Even the Suns—who almost went up 2-0 despite a near-unplayable CP3–could have ousted them.

Hence I’m not sure what’s the point of this one-sided hypothetical. The Lakers were far from the most unfortunate team—much less the only one—insofar as injuries went that year, and they’re certainly not the only one who could’ve capitalized on the clear field if they were among the few healthy contenders.

The point can be seen once you go away from underseing them so much against other healthy competing teams. Theyre Bron/AD ffs! The defending champs.

Unlike the Nets and Clippers, they actually led their series before injury hit.

There was no guarantee for those 2 teams winning.

[Naero]

The point can be seen once you go away from underseing them so much against other healthy competing teams. Theyre Bron/AD ffs! The defending champs.

Unlike the Nets and Clippers, they actually led their series before injury hit.

There was no guarantee for those 2 teams winning.

The problem is AD’s play was much spottier then than it was in 2020. He had a subpar Game 1, and he was shooting 2-9 before he went down in Game 4 (at a juncture when the Suns were gaining momentum anyway). Plus, the Lakers had a considerably tougher gauntlet to face in 2021 (contingent that everyone was healthy) than they did in the previous year.

The Nets looked dangerous enough in their own right pre-injuries. Hell, they led 2-0 against the eventual champions without Harden, and they came close enough to going 3-0 with just KD and Kyrie; even without the latter, they nearly won the series anyway.

Sure, there’s no guarantee that they or anyone else beats the Lakers barring injuries. But it’s even less plausible to slam the door on them.

Anyway, as for the thread’s actual question: the Nets were the preplayoffs bookmaking favorite to win it all at +220, whereas the Lakers were pegged at +460. Source: https://www.si.com/betting/2021/05/22/nba-playoffs-betting-preview

That’s literal proof that Brooklyn was the consensus favorite. It seems revisionist to suggest otherwise now, especially in retrospect of how well they fared despite the injuries.

[ArbitraryWater]

The problem is AD’s play was much spottier then than it was in 2020. He had a subpar Game 1, and he was shooting 2-9 before he went down in Game 4 (at a juncture when the Suns were gaining momentum anyway). Plus, the Lakers had a considerably tougher gauntlet to face in 2021 (contingent that everyone was healthy) than they did in the previous year.

The Nets looked dangerous enough in their own right pre-injuries. Hell, they led 2-0 against the eventual champions without Harden, and they came close enough to going 3-0 with just KD and Kyrie; even without the latter, they nearly won the series anyway.

Sure, there’s no guarantee that they or anyone else beats the Lakers barring injuries. But it’s even less plausible to slam the door on them.

Anyway, as for the thread’s actual question: the Nets were the preplayoffs bookmaking favorite to win it all at +220, whereas the Lakers were pegged at +460. Source: https://www.si.com/betting/2021/05/22/nba-playoffs-betting-preview

That’s literal proof that Brooklyn was the consensus favorite. It seems revisionist to suggest otherwise now, especially in retrospect of how well they fared despite the injuries.

why are you cutting it off there?

They were on pace to be tied up 2-2 without Harden.

What weird logic is it to randomly cut it off at the highest point to prove their strength, but not when Kyrie actually got injured?

This is logic 101 dude. So we never saw them in the playoffs, against a great team.

But the fact that KD/Harden/KI probaby win, just isnt very relevant or inspiring. I guess thats why the question. No one cares there was an injury there.

[GimmeThat]

I think if you walk into a country club right now, you'd see odd holes in the mens bathroom with one entrance being Tiger Woods sucked, and the other being I was his caddie, hosted by yours truly.

[JohnMax]

These downs are trying to discredit Giannis's championship because they are shook of Jokic's current championship run.

[iamgine]

I mean they had Lebron and AD plus some decent role players. There's no reason they couldn't seriously compete for the title.

"Would have won" is too strong IMO. It's not like they were overwhelmingly better than everyone else like KD's Warriors days.

Do we also assume Kawhi, Harden, Kyrie didn't get injured?

[dankok8]

If Nets are also healthy they probably win. If other teams still injured then it's between the Lakers, Suns and Bucks.

[tontoz]

It's definitely a consensus that the Lakers just got swept.