Chris Herring: The stakes are incredibly high in Los Angeles for multiple reasons. The Lakers traded the farm for Anthony Davis. He'll be a free agent after this season and there's no guarantee he'll stay in purple and gold if things go off the rails. (The Dwight Howard fiasco, in which this exact scenario played out, is still a raw memory for Lakers fans). Beyond that, James is on the downside of his career, even if he's still performing at a level we've never seen for his age.
One element worth watching: How much will James be asked to do going forward? Getting Davis was a huge help. He arguably becomes the most talented teammate James has ever had. But one of the biggest downsides of not landing Kawhi Leonard was losing the possibility of making LeBron's minutes easier on offense as he ages. Even with Davis in tow, James doesn't have an abundance of high-level ball handlers on this roster.
Rajon Rondo has been less aggressive for quite a while now, and he's coming off a season in which he posted a career-low free throw rate of 8.3%. Alex Caruso has had his moments and he's a fan favorite, but he's still something of an unknown, as most of his contributions last season came during the season equivalent of garbage time. And while the Lakers made a handful of noteworthy signings -- Danny Green, Avery Bradley, Quinn Cook, Jared Dudley -- it's fair to raise the question of whether the team again has left itself with a glaring problem.
The Lakers clearly didn't have enough shooting on the roster heading into last season, unsurprisingly finishing second to last in the league in 3-point percentage. Now, Los Angeles might have robbed Peter to pay Paul: The Lakers have the shooting they need, but they lack ballhandling options at a time in James' career where it would seemingly benefit him to play more on the wing instead of having to repeatedly set up plays for himself and Davis.
That Iguodala layup he pinned to the backboard in 2016 happened right after an offensive sequence when James was essentially able to stand off to the side and rest. All-Star teammate Kyrie Irving led the possession from start to finish. Having to do less as a setup man because of Irving's presence made James sharper in key moments during that series. The same might be true of an entire season if James had another solid ball handler to take the pressure off of him.
None of this is to suggest that James and the Lakers won't have an incredible season. But the roster construction surrounding James and AD probably will force LeBron to try to do it all, draining more of his late-career battery than what is ideal.