NBA Fantasy Preview 2021-22: Los Angeles Lakers

In a 30-part series leading up to the start of the 2021-22 National Basketball Association season, we will take a look at each NBA franchise from a fantasy perspective. The 14th team we will review is the Los Angeles Lakers.

After being eliminated in six games by the Phoenix Suns in the 2021 Western Conference quarterfinals, the Los Angeles Lakers made significant noise in the offseason as they acquired Russell Westbrook from the Washington Wizards to complement LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

The Lakers now have a legitimate big three and Westbrook gives James a legitimate opportunity to win his fifth NBA Finals. At age 36, James is the best player in the last two decades, and still has legitimate fantasy value. The reason is because of his marvelous versatility. For fantasy purposes, James is  a point guard, shooting guard and small forward.

In 2020-21, James ranked 17th among small forwards, 17th among  point guards and 18th among shooting guards with 1806 fantasy points.* He had a field goal percentage of .513, free throw percentage of .698, 1126 points, 104 three-points made, 346 rebounds, 350 assists, 48 steals and 168 turnovers. One must realize James put together these numbers in only 45 games, as he missed 26 games with an ankle injury. So, James was still averaging an impressive 40.1 fantasy points per game.

Westbrook meanwhile is the fourth best point guard in the NBA, behind Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks and Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers. Westbrook is a fantasy dream to be honest because of his regular triple doubles. In 2020-21, he passed the great Oscar Robertson into first place all-time in this statistical category. Westbrook’s 763 assists led the NBA, but a reason why he was only fourth among point guards is because he also led the NBA with 312 turnovers.

The Lakers will also be counting on Davis to be a powerful force in the paint. The 28-year-old from Chicago missed significant time last year due to calf, heel and groin injuries. Where Davis is a fantasy asset is in the blocks category. In three separate seasons while with the New Orleans Pelicans, Davis led the NBA in blocks per game, and has averaged 2.3 blocks per game in 564 regular season games.

*Please note: To calculate NBA fantasy points for point guards, shooting guards and small forwards, I use the formula (3PTM+Points+Rebounds+Assists+Steals-Turnovers). For power forwards and centers, I use the formula (Points+Rebounds+Assists+Steals+Blocks-Turnovers).

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