Off-Season Prediction: How the Los Angeles Lakers have a shot at taking the 7th or 8th spot of the NBA playoffs

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 Although the NBA season has not officially started, many have already begun to count out the purple and gold from playoff contention, naming the coming season yet another "rebuilding period" for the struggling storied franchise. However, the Lakers' off season moves and pick ups have given them a decent team consisting of a few veterans very capable of leading a young and athletic squad. With the signing of a solid head coach in Byron Scott, who knows how far the team may actually go this year.

Last year, guards Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant, the prevalent leaders of the Lakers, were hobbled by injuries which left the responsibilities to a team full of young and inexperienced players with the majority signed to one year contracts. This year, the Lakers athletic trainer, Gary Viti, has announced that both Nash and Bryant are 100 percent and ready to go for the coming year, which means that there may potentially be quite a backcourt full of experience that younger athletes on the team may take advantage of.

Nash may be seeing to some reduced playing time as he packs in his 19th (and probably final) NBA season but his worth to the team may very well take place behind the scenes and in the team's practice facility where he may help guards like Jeremy Lin and Jordan Clarkson develop important skills any point guard would need moving forward and competing with other elite players in the league. Just ask Goran Dragic, he will probably give you all the details on Nash's influence on his game.

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Having missed the majority of the season last year, it is definite that Bryant will come back with an aggressive mentality. Although I do not think that Bryant will be the same guard we have seen over the past 18 years of his illustrious career, I still think that he has enough gas left in the tank to be a major threat on the floor. His work ethic and expectations for his teammates has defined his character over the years and this will only help his team get better. It will take Bryant some games to get used to his teammates but the five-time NBA champ has enough experience to adapt and come back into the regular flow of the game promptly.

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Now do not get me wrong, the Lakers still have a lot of youth on the roster that consists of players who are likely to stick around for a year or two, but these players are not playing to play or impress other teams that may potentially pick them up next year, they are now playing behind veterans who are hungry for a NBA championship, veterans that are running out of time.

With the addition of effective bigs in Carlos Boozer and Ed Davis, the return of Nick Young, Wesley Johnson, and Xavier Henry, and a huge prospect in Julius Randle, the Lakers are not looking completely the same has the rag-tag team assembled last year. The guys who are returning have had an entire year working together and growing together, the newcomers are excited and eager to play with the veterans, and the veterans are hungry for a championship before their careers are all said and done. The formula may still be uncertain and there are still a lot of question marks surrounding the team but the build during the off season has looked quite decent thus far.

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In addition, the Lakers are not too far off in contending with the other Western Conference squads. It is obvious that the San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors, and the Memphis Grizzlies are sure to make the top spots in the playoffs and give the Lakers a very tough time, but most of the other teams are very capable of defeating.

The Los Angeles Clippers are probably going to make the playoffs in the third or fourth slot given the play of their very dominate front court. However, the team has proven to be quite inconsistent and sloppy at times (note the fact that the Lakers pulled out a victory over the Clippers in the season opener last year). The Lakers could definitely steal some games over their cross town foes with any given moment.

Houston has lost some talent with the departure of Omer Asik, Chandler Parsons, and Jeremy Lin while also adding in some serious drama within the franchise in the wake of the whole James Harden-Dwight Howard "Cornerstones" conflict. The Rockets are still quite a tough team but the Lakers may also snag a win from them.

The Utah Jazz, Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns are all loaded with relatively young talent that are in similar predicaments as the purple and gold. These are the teams that will be fighting very hard to slip into the post-season, so the Lakers will have to make a statement to these teams early on.

Most importantly, Los Angeles has to be able to defeat the teams that know they can. The Minnesota Timberwolves have picked up a huge name in Andrew Wiggins and the New Orleans Pelicans still have the skills at the center position in Anthony Davis but these games are games that the purple and gold can put away with the talent they currently hold in their roster.

With this all being said. The outline of the Los Angeles Lakers are seriously unknown but Laker fans must trust in their team in the process moving forward. As a basketball city, fans tend to be quite impatient with these periods of ambiguity and may lack patience. All in all, fans should not expect an easy season, the Lakers are going to have to fight pretty hard to get into playoff contention and there will definitely be times of struggle but I think that with the potential in the roster and coaching staff, perhaps this year, the Los Angeles Lakers will surprise a lot of people.