That's not the case for the Lakers because they cannot win without one of their star players.
Lebron or Davis' injury will drastically affect their chance of winning, just like the Clippers when Leonard and Paul George was injured, although they were still competitive but they are not the same without their star players.
It's true. But Paul George did something great when Kawhi was out.
About the Lakers, it's not like its a one man team now or two man team which only rely on Lebron and AD.
They have PatBev and Westbrook which I think will be a big impact for the team if their coach would let it.
Ham is different than Vogel. It's not like he have focus for defense only. I have seen Westbrook play this preseason and there is a difference than what he was last year. We cannot tell it just yet.
Yes, it's still to early to give comments but that is already good as we are seeing some improvements in their roster, they just need to be healthy all the way so that their chances won't drop especially Anthony Davis as they don't have any big man in the team to replace him and also reliable enough. I'm also hoping that Westbrook will bounce back this season.