The lights shine on LeBron and Bronny James as the Lakers open against the Wolves – Field Level Media – Professional sports content solutions

Two teams everyone expects to be in contention in the spring will open the season against each other on Tuesday when the Los Angeles Lakers host the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Lakers will look to get another quality season out of a veteran duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, while the team gets a much-needed injection of youth from new additions Dalton Knecht and Bronny James, the 20-year-old son of the team’s star.

The new-look Timberwolves decided to shake up the top of the roster by keeping Anthony Edwards but trading Karl-Anthony Towns for the powerful engine of Julius Randle, who has averaged 23.3 points and 9.9 rebounds over the last four seasons for the New York Knicks scored.

The elder James turns 40 at the end of December and looks as spry as ever with the arrival of his son, who played one season in Southern California before making the jump to the NBA. New head coach JJ Redick also provides a boost of energy.

“If we have a special group, we will win some games and be able to compete for what we ultimately want,” Redick told the Orange County Register. “It also means our players are getting better and we enjoy coming to work every day.”

Los Angeles finished 47-35 last season, finishing eighth in the Western Conference before advancing to the main playoff field after winning the play-in tournament. They were eliminated in the first round by the Denver Nuggets.

James averaged 25.7 points with 7.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists, his highest assist rate since his career-high 10.2 in the 2019-20 season when Los Angeles won their last title. He played in 71 games last season, his highest total in six seasons with the Lakers.

Davis averaged 24.7 points with a career-best 12.6 rebounds and was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive first team for the third time in his career.

In Minnesota, Edwards was coming off his best season, averaging 25.9 points with 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists, finishing seventh in MVP voting and landing on the All-NBA second team. He ended the summer with a gold medal while playing with James and Davis for Team USA at the Paris Olympics.

Most important of all last season, Edwards led the Timberwolves to a 56-26 regular season record and a trip to the Western Conference Finals, where they were defeated by the Dallas Mavericks.

However, in order to build a more complete roster around Edwards, the Timberwolves opted to trade Towns, who averaged 21.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game last season, for the strength of Randle, who was among the three All-Stars last season four seasons.

Minnesota also received Donte DiVincenzo as part of the deal to maintain a 3-point shooting presence following the departure of Towns.

Thanks to the inside presence of reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, the Timberwolves are elite defensively and will look to develop their overall offensive game.

“Where we are now, it feels like we’re in a really good place,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said as his team prepared for its final preseason game. “Feels like you’re ahead of the curve. … (When) they start really counting the stats, sometimes the ball tends to get a little sticky. Hopefully that’s not the case.”

–Field level media