Why the Lakers might have to split up

One of the most talked about teams in this years' off season has been the Los Angeles Lakers. They have made a lot of key acquisitions that have bumped up their chances of doing well this year.

One of the less talked about acquisitions has been the inclusion of Rajon Rondo. The Lakers front office loves their new addition, but the media has been focused more on LeBron James, and his decision to move to L.A. LeBron going to the Lakers might have been the most exciting investment, but the Rondo addition could cause the team to split up.

Even before LeBron came over, the Lakers had a lot of players who needed the ball in their hands to be effective such as Lonzo Ball and Julius Randle. This is why Randle left. He knew he wouldn't be able to get his hands on the ball with all of the new ball dominant additions, not to mention the fact that the Lakers also picked up Lance Stephenson.

One reason why Rondo causes problems for the Lakers is because they already have two other point guards who would not accept to take a shooting guard role. Lonzo Ball and Isaiah Thomas. Everybody knows that Rondo (a 1x champion, 4x all-star, and 2x NBA all-defensive first team), will not accept losing his starting role to a second year player in Ball. The two could possibly both be starters, but both are non-changeable players and they can't play any other position. It is also well known that if Ball was ever a bench player, his father would not be happy, and that could lead to disagreement with him and Luke Walton (Lakers head coach), and could also lead to Ball leaving. Don't forget that Thomas will also want to be added to the mix, and it is likely that he won't be on the team for much longer.

A reason why it wouldn't make sense for Ball and Rondo to both start is because the Lakers just resigned Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to a 1 year $12 million deal. It wouldn't make sense for two guys who are getting payed less than Caldwell-Pope to be starting over him.

The Lakers will once again be a very compelling team to watch, but keep an eye on Rajon Rondo and Lonzo Ball, and what their roles are.

Why Alex Smith will Thrive in the Redskins Offense

       The NFL off season and free agency has started, and there have been many changes in rosters. A lot of quarterbacks are now on new teams. In particular, the Redskins made a change at the quarterback position. They replaced Kirk Cousins with Alex Smith. This resulted in Cousins departing, and starting a new chapter of his career with the Minnesota Vikings. A lot of the experts have been criticizing the move by Washington, saying that the Redskins just got a cheaper version of Kirk Cousins, and that Smith would not make a difference to the success of the team. But, the Redskins actually got a more mobile quarterback, who doesn't throw as many interceptions. Interceptions has been a huge factor in why the Redskins haven't been able to stay consistent.

      One area where they have struggled in the past couple years is in the red zone. Last season, Kirk Cousins threw 4 red zone interceptions. Smith did not throw any red zone interceptions. This is one reason why the Redskins upgraded at the quarterback position.
      A lot of experts also said that Alex Smith had better weapons in Kansas City. He had a rookie running back in Kareem Hunt, who led the league in rushing yards. He also had arguably the best tight end in Travis Kelce. And the fastest player in the NFL, which is Tyreek Hill. Smith was criticized for not going far in the playoffs with all of those weapons. But, if you look at his overall success, Alex Smith has shown that he can be consistent in getting his team to the playoffs. The only drawback is that he has only won two out of the seven playoff games he has played in. However, Kirk Cousins has only played one playoff game, and he lost that one.
      The Redskins offense is very underrated. Part of the reason why they ended up unsuccessful last season was because their main target offensively in Jordan Reed had injury issues. After Terrelle Pryor also had injury issues, and wasn't living up to what had been expected of him, second year receiver Josh Doctson became the first option on offense. For basically being a rookie because of being injured the previous year, Doctson did a great job. Jamison Crowder also really stepped up his game last season. Don't forget that the Redskins also have Vernon Davis who is probably the most consistent offensive player on the team. There are so many talented offensive players on the Redskins roster. Not to mention that they just added Paul Richardson, a wide receiver from the Seahawks. He can be Alex Smith's Tyreek Hill with the speed that he has.

     On top of the offense being just as dangerous as Kansas City's, the Redskins will also have a better defense. Before all of the injuries started to take a toll on the defense, the Redskins had one of the best defenses in the NFL in the first few weeks of the 2017 season. One particularly memorable game was when they went up against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday Night Football. They ended up winning 27-10. With a healthy defense this year, the offense will be able to play off of their success.

     For the most part, obtaining Alex Smith was a good decision by the Redskins. If you look for any problems with the Redskins new offense, the only one is that Alex Smith might have trouble spreading the ball around, which could lead to unhappiness with the players.