I feel like we were just talking about the finals, Tim, and here we are again.

Oh, man, let's talk about off season for us to write.

Absolutely.

Let's talk about Paul, George.

Uh, a lot of talk about him last year in the bubble, but he came out and really was the best player on the floor all night.

Superstar money requires superstar performance against the best competition, and that's what he gave him.

And and we know he's capable of this.

He has the talent to do it.

Key is, he's got to do it at the time that they need it most, which is against the top competition, whether that's regular season, like it was here on opening night or at some point when you get into the postseason, Siri's and at some point that we're gonna have to get through this team in the postseason.

And Paul George had everything working on.

This is why he got that kind of money because he's got such a versatile offensive game.

Hey could take you off the dribble.

He could post you.

He could beach in transition.

He could take you deep whatever it requires, he couldn't do it.

The question is, can he consistently do it for this team?

In the biggest moments, he's disappointed with himself the way his season ended.

Ah, year ago did not play very well at the end of that Denver Siri's when they were shocked.

Uh, I think this team is better to those staying.

I think they've got parts that complement their two stars better with Serge Ibaka, Luke Kennard and even Nicolas Batum.

I think the Clippers are a better team, but all that really is going to matter is if Paul George plays as well as he did tonight, when he has toe have it at some point in the postseason, when they see this team again down the road, everything, everything is magnified.

Tim, when we're talking about the Lakers, including ah, season opening loss to the Clippers, a lot of new parts for L.

A.

To what are you expecting from them early in the season?

Yeah, I think they're used in the beginning of the season almost like training camp, to be honest with you.

Because not only did you have a short turnaround, the shortest ever for an N b A champion in terms of time off.

You also have new pieces you're trying to incorporate at the same time.

So I think what they're gonna do early is they're gonna limit the minutes of LeBron and A D to around 30 which is what they were basically both at in this one.

And now they're trying to figure out what our best combinations you've added.

A mantra is Harold.

You've added a Dennis shrewder Marc Gasol, West Matthews and the list goes on.

So now Frank Vogel has to take time that he didn't really have to use this in the regular season to incorporate these guys and figure out who does he want to ultimately start?

What is his rotation going to look like?

Um, in terms of those first three or four guys off the bench and get everybody comfortable get their legs under him.

Would not be shocked at all if you saw the Lakers maybe get out of the gate to a 500 start over the first few weeks of the season, they're not worried about ceding.

They know they've got the most talent in the N B A.

And barring some sort of catastrophic injury to one of their top guys stand.

I think this team has to be the prohibitive favorite to win another ring, so it's not about getting out of the gate.

Put your foot on the gas.

It's about taking this time right now to ease your way into the season and hit your stride at the right time as you get closer to the playoffs.

Thank you for watching ESPN on YouTube for live streaming sports and premium content.

Subscribe to ESPN plus.