Here is what you need to know before the Lakers open the 2018-19 season against the Portland Trail Blazers.
1) The LeBron James era is set to begin
Since the day he signed in early July, Lakers fans have waited for the day LeBron James would make his official debut in purple and gold.
James begins his 16th NBA campaign fresh off one of the dominant runs in NBA history, as he averaged 34.0 points, 9.1 rebounds and 9.0 assists in last year’s playoffs. However, this team is constructed unlike any of his previous squads.
LeBron has never played on a team among the NBA’s top 10 in pace; the Lakers had the third-highest last season. James’ Cavaliers had the NBA’s second-worst defensive rating last year; the Lakers were 12th.
It will take weeks, if not months, to properly evaluate how the roster fits around James, but it is a certainty that the King himself remains a one-of-a-kind dynamo.
He sizzled in the preseason — 13.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 60.0 percent shooting in only 15.8 minutes per game — and we have years of evidence of the destruction he causes opponents in the regular season.
Portland certainly remembers, as the last time he visited the city he dropped 35 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and three blocks, while hammering a dunk of the year candidate on Jusuf Nurkic.
2) Rondo is an unfriendly face for the Blazers
Another player fresh in the minds of Portland fans is Rajon Rondo, who helped engineer New Orleans’ playoff sweep of the third-seeded Blazers six months ago.
Though he denies the existence of “Playoff Rondo,” the point guard certainly stepped up his game in the postseason, averaging 11.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and a whopping 13.3 assists in that scorching series.
While coach Luke Walton has yet to reveal his starters, Rondo would be the likely candidate at point guard considering he started every preseason game he participated in. That would leave Lonzo Ball to lead the second unit.
Ball only came off the bench twice last season, but would be surrounded by a second unit that boasts arguably the most firepower in the NBA. Reserves are likely to include Kyle Kuzma, Michael Beasley, and Josh Hart or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Regardless of who starts, the Lakers will have the option to have three elite playmakers — James, Rondo and Ball — on the floor at once.
3) Portland has been a house of horrors
They don’t come much deadlier than First Team All-NBA guard Damian Lillard, who ranked fourth in the NBA in scoring last season (26.9). A maestro out of pick-and-rolls, foul magnet and long-range threat, Lillard can fill the bucket from anywhere on the floor, and hit a last-second game-winner last time the Lakers visited Oregon.
Meanwhile, he is flanked by C.J. McCollum, who is one of the league’s premier shooters — both off the dribble and on spot-ups — and led all players in made jumpers last season.
And recent history certainly isn’t on the Lakers’ side, as they have lost a franchise-record 15 straight against the Blazers. Even James — the world’s greatest player — has fallen in five consecutive visits to the Rose City.
It hasn’t been easy for anyone to get a win in Portland, as the Trail Blazers have won an NBA-record 17 home openers in a row, last falling in 2000 to a Lakers squad led by Shaquille O’Neal’s 36 points.
And the Blazers will certainly be playing with some extra emotion, as they honor late owner Paul Allen, who passed away on Monday.
Tip-Off: 7:30 p.m. PT
TV: TNT
Radio: 710 ESPN and 1330 KWKW
Unis: Gold Icon
Location: Moda Center — Portland, Oregon