The Lakers are unquestionably a very good team, but aren't generally considered a top contender in the Western Conference.

There's a path to get there, but it involves unfortunate things happening to the teams that (on paper at least) are a notch above them in the preseason pecking order. Well, Monday one of those things seems to have happened. Houston point guard Fred VanVleet suffered a major knee injury—a torn ACL—that will require surgery and likely keep him out for the year.

The Rockets have a pretty stacked roster overall, but VanVleet is a critical part of their offense, and a major voice in the locker room. Moreover, they don't really have any depth at the position, and because they're right up against the apron and have a bunch of players who can't be traded until December 15th, aren't likely going to be able to do anything to fill the void. Or even try. Not right away, at least.

So the question becomes how far this knocks down the Rockets in the brutally competitive West. It's a big enough loss that you could project the Lakers to leapfrog them, for sure.

Nobody wants this sort of thing to happen, but broadly "bleep happens" is going to be a reality of any rise for the Lakers. Most teams in the conference will need to benefit from a little luck, even the top ones.

One thing that will help the Lakers vault to the top? MVP level play from Luka Dončić. And to that end, coaches, execs and scouts around the NBA are bullish, as expressed in the annual ESPN preseason survey. They also weighed in on a predicted location for LeBron James next year. Do they think he'll still be in LA?

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: VanVleet hurt.

SEGMENT 2: What it means in the West.

SEGMENT 3: Bullish on Luka.

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Injury Impact

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