Projecting LeBron James, Lakers Stars' Ceilings and Floors for 2024-25 NBA Season
Every NBA season offers both a best- and worst-case scenario.
Things typically land somewhere between the two extremes, but every once in a while someone either produces a dream season or encounters a nightmare.
Let's see where both outcomes for the brightest stars on the 2024-25 Los Angeles Lakers.
Anthony Davis
1 of 3
Ceiling: Davis clears the 70-game mark again, runs away with the Defensive Player of the Year award and returns to the All-NBA first team.
A healthy Davis can be as dominant as anyone, and he reminded everyone of that last season when he eclipsed the 70-game mark for the first time since 2017-18. Expecting that much floor time again is admittedly optimistic, but if it happens, that puts just about everything on the table for him and this team.
He has never earned Defensive Player of the Year honors, but he has been a top-four finisher four different times, including last season. If he can elevate this defense into the top 10, that could be enough for him to capture the hardware for the first time. It could also fuel his return to the All-NBA first team, where he last resided in 2019-20.
Floor: His injury issues return, his offensive aggression wanes and he's excluded from all end-of-season accolades.
The 76 games played matched his number of appearances from the 2020-21 and 2021-22 campaigns combined. In fact, over the five seasons prior to this most recent one, he averaged just 50 outings.
If that's all the Lakers are getting from him, then they aren't making major noise and neither is he. With inconsistent availability and a jumper that's run cool for a while, his offensive impact would be erratic, and he'd be an afterthought when it's time to hand out regular-season hardware.
LeBron James
2 of 3
Ceiling: James stays healthy and looks as spry as he did during the Olympics, leading the Lakers to a top-six seed and himself into the MVP discussion.
Father Time will presumably come for James at some point, but he was an All-NBA third-teamer in his age-39 season, and he followed that by earning MVP honors at the Olympics. He probably has too much competition to take home that trophy in the regular season, but he could still power his way into the race.
He seemingly always finds ways to develop new skills—last season's 41 percent three-point splash rate was a personal-best—and he can still summon some best-player-on-the-planet stretches. If he can string enough of them together, he could help L.A. bypass the play-in tournament and snag a playoff berth outright.
Floor: His availability worsens, the Lakers aren't even a play-in team and he snaps his 20-year run of earning All-NBA honors.
James willed his way to 71 appearances last season, but that was his most since 2017-18. He hadn't even cleared 60 games since 2019-20, and no one should be shocked if he falls short of that mark in his age-40 campaign.
If he isn't on the court and playing at a superstar level, then the Lakers can't possibly keep pace in the ultra-competitive Western Conference. If his absence count approaches 20, L.A. will fall outside of the West's top 10, and James will lose the All-NBA roster spot he's held for the past two decades.
Austin Reaves
3 of 3
Ceiling: Reaves simultaneously ups his efficiency and volume, building a credible All-Star case and drawing Most Improved Player award votes for the second time in three years.
Last season was supposed to be Reaves' launching pad to stardom, but development doesn't always follow the "supposed to" timeline. Maybe his leap year simply comes around a little later than expected.
Expectations were up last season for a reason. During the campaign prior, he wasn't too far from posting the vaunted 50/40/90 slash (52.9/39.8/86.4), which factored into his 10th-placed finish in Most Improved Player award voting. If he can flash similar (or better) efficiency will pushing his scoring average into the high teens, he'll have an All-Star argument and Most Improved Player votes.
Floor: He plateaus as a decently (not dominantly) efficient support player and has folks wondering why they thought he had star potential.
Barring injury, Reaves is too talented to implode. The Lakers need his playmaking and scoring punch, so he'll have opportunities to produce, and he's a good enough passer, shooter and cutter to capitalize on a lot of them.
However, L.A. attached All-Star expectations to Reaves, and he just may not have the game needed to get in that mix. It's helpful to have a role player capable of providing 15 points and five assists, but it's not fortune-changing. If his numbers don't get any better, the consensus opinion might shift toward the idea that the 26-year-old has peaked.
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