Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron James doesn’t make LA a shoo-in for the playoffs

LeBron James certainly makes the Los Angeles Lakers a team to keep close tabs on this season, but he doesn’t make them a shoo-in to be in the Western Conference playoffs.

LeBron James has made the playoffs every year dating back to the 2005-06 NBA season. The Los Angeles Lakers have missed the playoffs in each of the last five seasons. But the two parties joining forces doesn’t ensure that the Lakers will be competing in the Western Conference playoffs in the 2018-19 season.

James and the Lakers wasted little time agreeing to a deal in free agency. Coming to terms on a four-year, $154 million deal on July 1st, the Lakers added their most prominent player since Kobe Bryant, and James changed teams for the third time in his 15-year career.

It was a signing that A) made the Lakers’ five-year playoff drought worth the struggle, and B) showed James was committed to the Lakers for the long haul. At the same time, finding success early on is anything but a given for the Lakers.

The biggest lure the Lakers had going for them this offseason was their youth. With Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and Kyle Kuzma in place, they have one of the best young cores in the game, and were able to notch 35 wins with that grouping. And each of those three individuals project to have promising futures.

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After an underwhelming rookie campaign, Ingram came into his own as one of the better two-way players under 25 in the game last season. Averaging a career-high 16.1 points per game on an improved 47.0 percent shooting from the field and 39.0 percent shooting from beyond the arc, he established himself as a go-to scoring option in head coach Luke Walton’s rotation. He also played tight on-ball defense and showcased a great deal of athleticism on both ends.

In what was his rookie season, Ball impressed the Lakers’ faithful. Averaging 7.2 assists and 6.9 rebounds per game, he found the open man with ease and had a knack for hitting the boards. Granted he’s not a player the Lakers will lean on for scoring, Ball is a crafty player who makes others around him better.

Like Ball, the 2017-18 season was Kuzma’s rookie campaign, and he made his presence known. Averaging an astounding 16.1 points per game, he was one of the more impressive rookies in the association. He can shoot off the dribble, attack the rack, and run the fastbreak. The trio of he, Ball, and Ingram is a core the Lakers would be wise to build around, and they were a big reason why James decided to moved West – as were the opportunities which the city of Los Angeles present for a superstar like James.

At the same time, the Lakers added four proven veterans: Guards Rajon Rondo and Lance Stephenson, forward Michael Beasley, and center JaVale McGee. While the four of them are proven commodities with impactful skill sets, their fit in the Lakers rotation is bizarre, to say the least.

For starters, while Rondo is a gritty playmaker who backs down to no one, he’s never truly adapted his game wherever he’s been. And he’s also, at times, been labeled as a puzzling headache for head coaches. Does playing alongside a young core, which includes a player who could potentially start over him in Ball, as well as James, mean this season will all of a sudden bring out a different version of Rondo?

Stephenson is a player who gets in the head of his opponent on defense, but he has a well-documented history with James – and not in a good way. Plus, the Energizer Bunny that is Stephenson always appears compelled to serve as a primary scorer – which there’s nothing with. But how will that mindset and skill set co-exist alongside James?

Last season, Beasley endured an encouraging season with the New York Knicks where he proved he could be a consistent double-digit scorer on a nightly basis, averaging 13.2 points per game (which is the most points Beasley has averaged since the 2010-11 season). But the former No. 2 overall pick is another player who has never really changed his game, or backed down from scoring. Is that all of a sudden going to change too?

The signing of McGee doesn’t have any downside for the Lakers given that they’re paying him the league minimum, but the Lakers are thin at center. Although he plays both ends, are the Lakers going to rely on McGee to play 30 minutes a night and produce at a high level?

This Lakers team is talented. They have the best basketball player on the planet as well as some proven veterans and intriguing young players. But how they will mesh is hard to forecast, and the competition out West is as fierce as ever.

The Golden State Warriors repeated as NBA Champions and added DeMarcus Cousins in free agency. The Houston Rockets were one game away from reaching the Finals last season, and their core remains mostly intact. The Portland Trail Blazers won 49 games last season. The Oklahoma City Thunder retained Paul George in free agency and will only improve with time.

The Utah Jazz went to the second round of the playoffs and have one of the most dangerous young cores in the game. The New Orleans Pelicans also made it to the second round of the playoffs after winning 48 games, and they added Julius Randle (who spent the first four years of his career with the Lakers) to replace Cousins – who they played better without.

The San Antonio Spurs won 47 games with Kawhi Leonard essentially missing the entire season, and they were able to acquire DeMar DeRozan for his services via trade. The Minnesota Timberwolves finally came into their own last season, cracking the playoffs with their improving core. The Denver Nuggets came one game away from reaching the playoffs and won 47 games with Paul Millsap missing the majority of the season.

There are nine teams who are legitimate playoff contenders in the West. Granted the Lakers are in that mix too, they have the least amount of certainty out of the 10 teams considered threats to play meaningful basketball in the spring (which includes the Lakers).

The three key components of the Lakers roster are veterans who don’t cast aside their games (for both good and bad reasons), young players who the organization hopes will blossom, and the best player in the game who instantly becomes the centerpiece of their foundation. It’s a mixed bag that is reliant on multiple factors to succeed, and the most positive outcome, realistically, is a first-round playoff exit.

James is the best basketball player of the 21st century and still the best player in the NBA at 33. But his addition to the Lakers doesn’t promise anything, and the competition around the Lakers cannot be taken for granted.

The Los Angeles Lakers will return to their winning ways in the near-future, but they’re not yet to the point where the playoffs are a given.