Is it Championship or Bust for the LA Lakers?

*Stats and team records updated through to 5th November, 2019*

When LeBron James arrived in Los Angeles to start the 2018-19 season, those donning purple and gold hailed an end to their five-season playoff drought. Instead, the post-season escaped the 37-45 LA Lakers with James playing a career-low 55 games.

Backed into a corner and needing to make a move, Anthony Davis, and to a lesser extent the New Orleans Pelicans, leant the Lakers a helping hand.

For Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and three first-round picks, the Pelicans sent one of the best talents in the NBA, Anthony Davis, to play alongside one of the best to have ever lived in LeBron James.

James is refreshed after the longest off-season of his career and the change of scenery has reignited Davis' career.

Now, the Lakers aren't only playoff hopefuls.

They're NBA championship contenders.

Who would have thought Michael Beasley, Lance Stephenson, Tyson Chandler, Rajon Rondo and a handful of first and second-year players weren't the missing pieces last season?

A lot of people really. Just not the ones in decision-making positions at Staples.

With Magic Johnson surprising everybody - including Lakers' president Jeanie Buss - by announcing his resignation to gathered media one afternoon, it gave the franchise a chance at a do-over.

It's early days, and a lot can happen between now and April, but the Lakers seem to have learned from their mistakes to sign a productive supporting cast for the superstar duo to move forward with.

READ: What We've Learnt from the NBA's Opening Matches

First and foremost, Dwight Howard.

A controversial signing, to say the least, Howard is already winning back the love of Lakers fans following his tumultuous one and only previous season in Los Angeles seven years ago. He's already exceeding expectations and has played a significant part in the Lakers boasting the best defensive rating in the NBA through six games at 96.3 points per 100 possessions. Howard also leads the team in defensive box plus/minus (8.4).

He's not going to do it every night, but with lines of 16 points (8-8), 10 rebounds and 4 blocks against the Hornets, and 14 points (7-7), 13 rebounds and 2 blocks against the Spurs, Howard can also fill the box score when the opportunity presents itself.

Shooting 48.5% from beyond the arc and playing with a 96.3 defensive rating, Danny Green is doing precisely what he was signed to do. Most notably, hitting the game-tying bucket against the Mavericks before the Lakers won in overtime.

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Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is a name that remains from last season, but he's having his moments and comes at a lower price in 2019-20. His shot isn't falling from beyond the arc just yet (26.7%). However, he's doing his best to make up for it on the defensive end. So too is Avery Bradley with the pair playing with 91.6 and 98.9 defensive ratings respectively.

Quinn Cook and Troy Daniels provide some depth behind Rondo and Alex Caruso at the guard position. JaVale McGee is still starting and doing what he does best in limited minutes. Meanwhile, Jared Dudley adds some experience on the floor and in the locker room.

As Kyle Kuzma gets his legs under him and begins to produce close to the 18.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game on 45.6% shooting, we will soon see this juggernaut begin to realise its potential on the offensive side of the ball.

So far, their offensive numbers hardly scream those of a potential championship team.

In the meantime, the Lakers will play with the best defence in the NBA.

Given the talent at their disposal, the Lakers can remain one of the best defensive teams in the league all season.

RELATED: The 2019/20 NBA Championship Contenders

Davis has featured in three All-NBA first teams and an All-NBA Defensive first team. He's a Defensive Player of the Year in waiting and has led the league in blocks three times. With 18 in six games this season, he currently ranks number one in total blocked shots.

Howard may be 33-years old, but he's still a three-time Defensive Player of the Year and a four-time All-NBA Defensive first team representative. He too has led the league in blocks and is remarkably just five spots behind Davis with 14 blocks already this season.

On the perimeter, both Green and Bradley have carved out reputations as staunch defenders throughout their careers.

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And then there is King James.

Famously selective with his effort on the defensive end in recent years, he's currently posting a career-best 96.2 defensive rating. It's a significant improvement on his awful 107.6 defensive rating in 2018-19, and his 2019-20 number improves even further when he shares the floor with Davis (95.3).

Pete Zayas of LakerFilmRoom fame goes into James' massive game against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks here, but it's his defensive highlights that are most encouraging.

The timestamped play not only shows James work as a help defender (again, not something he was especially eager to do last season) but also what this veteran-laden team can do defensively overall.

Green gets beaten by the backcut, but James is aware and willing enough to drop down and help. Instead of desperately trying to make up for his mistake, Green accepts the help and picks up the player James has left in the corner. What would have otherwise been an open corner three becomes a stale play with Seth Curry forced to retreat.

The physical talent this roster has on the defensive end is one thing, but it's the smarts and effort that give hope to the idea of the Lakers being a great defensive team all season.

If the Lakers are an elite defensive team, there is every chance they are relevant in June. You need to go back 20 years to find a championship team in the bottom half of the league in defensive rating. The 2017-18 Warriors are the only team since then to have won it from outside the top ten.

We've heard it all before: Defence wins championships.

With that, the Stats Insider Model has the Lakers just behind the Clippers in the race to win the NBA Finals.

FUTURES: STATS INSIDER'S FULL NBA CHAMPIONSHIP PROJECTIONS

James has been there and done it all before. He's taken teams a lot worse than this to the final hurdle in an NBA season. This time, he has one of the best players in the league beside him and, unlike last season, a supporting cast carefully chosen to compliment the superstar duo.

It's taken a year longer than the Laker Nation thought it would, and it's not happening with the players most expected 12 months ago. But the Lakers have already announced themselves as championship contenders 2019-20, and anything less will be considered a failure.

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