The Los Angeles Lakers are off to a 10-5 start to the 2024 NBA season, and things are looking better than many thought.

A team initially expected to fight for a playoff spot now looks like they can take things further.

Anthony Davis is playing some of the best basketball of his career, while LeBron James, at 39, continues to prove he’s still one of the best in the game. Rising star Dalton Knecht has also stepped up and become an important piece of the puzzle. It’s still early, but the Lakers are currently sitting in the No. 4 spot in the Western Conference. Writers like Sam Vecenie from The Athletic believe they could be on the brink of contending for an NBA title.

“I feel really good about where they’re (Lakers) at,” Vecenie said on “Buha’s Block” podcast. “I feel really, really good. I can’t over-emphasize that to Lakers fans.

I think they’re in that second tier, just right beneath a healthy Boston and a healthy Thunder to me.” He even went as far as saying he thinks the Lakers should go “all in” at the trade deadline.

“If I’m the Lakers, I think this is a chance to win the title, and I’m kind of going all-in this year,” Vecenie added. Vecenie pointed to the Lakers’ defensive struggles and need for a reliable shooter.

He suggested Brooklyn Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith as his “favorite” choice if the team looks to address these issues through a trade.

“If I was the Lakers front office, I would be going out on the trade market to try to find my defensive answer,” Vecenie stated. “Try to find my high-level perimeter defender, who I can trust to also knock down shots within the scope of this offense. And they have the picks to do it.

They have the contracts to be able to do it. It shouldn’t be an issue for them, given what’s going to be out on the marketplace.

My favorite name is Dorian Finney-Smith for them.

That just makes an immense amount of sense to me.” Finney-Smith, now in his ninth NBA season after playing college ball at Florida, went undrafted before starting his career with the Dallas Mavericks.

After six and a half seasons with the Mavs, he earned a four-year, $55.6 million contract and was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in 2023.

This season, he’s averaging 10.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.