Lakers 2017-18 Schedule: Top Games, Championship Odds and Record Predictions

The LaVar and Lonzo Ball show has arrived to the Los Angeles Lakers and brought a renewed sense of optimism to the team's rebuilding efforts. The second overall pick shined during the Las Vegas Summer League en route to MVP honors and will look to parlay that success into a dynamic rookie season. 

Meanwhile, the Lakers' front office made a high-profile trade in June to acquire All-Star center Brook Lopez from the Brooklyn Nets in a deal that also featured D'Angelo Russell leaving town. In addition, the team signed former Detroit Pistons guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to bolster its backcourt.

Now the question is exactly how much progress Los Angeles can make as it seeks to begin climbing the standings in the highly competitive Western Conference. Let's check out all of the important details for the Lakers' upcoming campaign following the league's schedule release.

2017-18 Details

Season Opener: Thursday, Oct. 19, at 10:30 p.m. ET on TNT vs. Los Angeles Clippers

Championship Odds: 100-1 (via OddsShark)

Full Schedule: NBA.com

Top Matchups

Los Angeles Clippers

Although the Lakers' brand has remained strong despite a four-year playoff drought, the Clippers have been the far more competitive team from Los Angeles in recent years. The pendulum in the battle for L.A. could be ready to swing back in the Lake Show's favor, though.

The Clippers traded Chris Paul to the Houston Rockets during the offseason but were able to retain Blake Griffin. They will hope the addition of Danilo Gallinari can help fill the star void left by the longtime point guard in the current "superteam" era.

Meanwhile, the Lakers' retooling efforts have allowed the franchise to acquire several promising young players, led by Ball, Brandon Ingram, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson. Their development will determine whether they can surge past the Clippers and back toward contention.

It may not happen this year since the Lakers are still in the growth process. But their meetings with the other L.A. team should provide a good measuring stick of progress.

Portland Trail Blazers

First Overall Matchup: Thursday, Nov. 2, at 10:30 p.m. ET on TNT

The Blazers are one of the teams that represent a key hurdle if the Lakers are going to make a push toward the postseason. That's going to make the head-to-head battles between the sides even more important during the regular season.

Most interesting will be the backcourt battles between Ball and Caldwell-Pope against the terrific Portland tandem of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.

It's those type of matchups, along with facing the likes of John Wall and Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards or Paul and James Harden with the Rockets, that can help prepare the Lakers for the eventual challenge of trying to take down the Golden State Warriors' elite perimeter players.

Again, the Lakers might not be quite at a point yet where they're better than the Blazers, but their game against Lillard, McCollum and Co. will be a litmus test.

Record Prediction

All told, the Lakers are one of the NBA's most intriguing teams heading into the season. They are much better on paper than the 26-56 squad from one year ago, but even obvious roster upgrades don't always lead to a massive uptick in wins right away. It takes time, especially for a mostly young team.

Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times passed along comments from president of basketball operations Magic Johnson about the process in June.

"I can sense the buzz, people can see that we're building a championship team here, changing the culture here," he said. "I'm not crazy, I know it's going to take us a while to build. But we're going to get the right people in here and win."

The Lakers are on the right path. Although the bar for championship success is higher now because of the tremendous amount of talent acquired by a select few teams, led by the Warriors, they are at least laying a strong foundation for future success.

It wouldn't be a surprise for them to hang around in the playoff race until the second half of the season, particularly if Ball plays like a top-tier Rookie of the Year candidate. But the postseason is probably one more year, and a few more additions, away.

Prediction: 36-46