Los Angeles Lakers

Another One

Published Dec. 2, 2020 2:08 p.m. ET

The calendar flipping to December means the NBA is officially set to return in a mere weeks, and LeBron James has high hopes that he can land another championship ring come the summer.

An even richer LeBron James, to be exact.

When asked this if the Los Angeles Lakers can repeat, a confident LeBron put it plainly in an interview on Spectrum SportsNet's Road Trippin':

"We can. I mean, it's that simple ... We absolutely can."

Despite the truncated offseason, the Lakers have been busy making moves over the past month.

And as James pointed out in the interview, the bulk of Laker Nation's additions and subtractions have been about getting younger.

The key newcomers include 26-year-old Montrezl Harrell, 27-year-old Dennis Schroder, and 35-year-old Marc Gasol, none of whom are young pups, but on the whole, are less grizzled than those that left the Lakers.

They'll be tasked with replacing a pair of 34-year-olds in Dwight Howard and Rajon Rondo, along with the 33-year-old Danny Green.

For LeBron, who will turn 36 on Dec. 30, it's clear that the additions have him feeling confident heading into the start of the season, assuming he and his teammates stay healthy.

Shannon Sharpe shared that optimism when discussing LeBron's comments on Wednesday.

"They've gotten better. They've gotten younger. And they're in prime position"

Sharpe's counterpart on Undisputed, Skip Bayless, conceded that while the Lakers did indeed get younger, there's another side of the coin to consider.

"You got younger, but you got way dicier in your locker room because ... Dennis Schroder had the audacity, the nerve, the delusional brazenness to just step out there in his opening press conference and say, 'I want to start. I going to bring the ball up and LeBron can play off the ball.' You are kidding me!"

As far as Schroder's comments go, perhaps LeBron, who has been the primary ball-handler for the Lakers, will iron out those details in the coming weeks.

To the King's credit, he already acknowledged that he knows what the Lakers are getting in the tenacious former Oklahoma City Thunder point guard:

"If he's your teammate, you love the s⁠⁠--t out of him. If he's not, you can't f----ng stand him."

Along with LeBron liking his team's chances of repeating, so too do the oddsmakers at FOX Bet.

The Lakers are the biggest favorites at +300, according to FOX Bet's insights, ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks at +550 apiece and the Brooklyn Nets at +600.

Will the efforts to infuse youth lead the Lakers to another title, or have they tinkered too much with a winning formula? We'll start getting answers soon, as the season tips off on Dec. 22.