Former NBA coach Mark Jackson believes the Los Angeles Lakers roster has a ceiling to be a contender for next season

Last season was rough for the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James as the Purple and Gold army failed to qualify for the playoffs and were heavily criticized as a result. James on the other hand had a decent personal campaign but that means nothing to him as he aims to win another Championship.

The idea of bringing in Russell Westbrook from the Washington Wizards was a par tof the plan to form a trio along with James and Anthony Davis. While Anthony Davis has struggled with persistent injury problems, Westbrook has struggled with form and has seen a steep decline since joining the Lakers. Overall they are still looking to make moves in the offseason but has not made any noteworthy moves. They were linked with Kyrie Irving as there were reports of LeBron James wanting to team up with Kyrie again but that apparently has not materialized. Similarly the Lakers also went all out to secure the services of Indiana Pacers duo of Buddy Hield and Myles Turnerbut even that did not work out for the Lakers.

Despite all the fiasco, former NBA coach Mark Jackson shares how the Lakers can very well be a Championship contender if everything falls into place and they remain healthy throughout the course of the season. When asked about the ceiling of the current Lakers roster, Jackson shared, “Healthy, they can win a championship,” Jackson said. “If they are healthy and they compete on the defensive end, night in and night out.”

The Lakers are keen on improving their defence in the upcoming season as they had the third worst defence in the NBA last time out. They allowed their opponents to score 115.1 on an average last season and it is surely a major concern. But with new coach Darwi Ham joining the organization the defensive numbers will surely go up as he is trying to put things in place.

Even in attack they need players to step up. Jackson shared how the Lakers cannot rely on LeBron, AD and Westbrook to always bail them out in attack. “Because we have three future Hall of Famers, we’re gonna outscore everybody and win. It doesn’t happen that way,” Jackson said. “They have to develop the right habits that they didn’t have last year and get back to defending and get healthy. They have to stay healthy, and once they do, they got a chance against anybody.”

That is how they played last season and they struggled miserably. While there were many variable for their failure last season, this was one of the main concerns as well. So they will have to bring in fresher ideas in attack and find different ways to consistently stay ahead of their opponents.