As LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are officially eliminated from the playoffs, it’s about to get even more difficult over the next few months
If Christmas Day feels so long ago, it’s because it is. At that point, the Los Angeles Lakers were just 2.5 games back of the top spot in the Western Conference and the last time that you felt good about their chances of making any noise in this year’s playoffs.
Fast forward to the end of March, roughly three months later, and the Lakers are currently in 11th in the Western Conference and officially eliminated from post-season contention after a loss at the hands of the Brooklyn Nets, which had to hurt a bit more considering they were led by ex-Laker D’Angelo Russell, who enjoyed his first all-star appearance this season too.
Now with the Lakers officially out of playoff contention – and for LeBron James, the first time in 13 seasons – nothing is going to get any easier heading into the off-season.
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If anything, the expectation for the Lakers should be that it will get harder. Los Angeles is in a point where they are amid immense pressure to come through during the summer, and get a second start to stick next to LeBron.
This roster is clearly flawed – and probably a bit too young for LeBron – and needs overhauling if they’re going to make it to the playoffs next season, and depending on what other Western Conference teams do, genuinely compete at a high level.
Should the Warriors stick together this summer, the Lakers are still an ocean away. And even landing Anthony Davis (LA’s best-case scenario for the off-season), would still leave the Lakers with room to make up with the players that they surround AD and LeBron with.
However, we should take that last paragraph with a grain of salt because from everything we’ve heard, the New Orleans Pelicans are going to make an effort to not move AD to the Lakers.
After that, it gets even tougher for the Lakers to sell to players like Kawhi Leonard or Kevin Durant, who could have better options with the Los Angeles Clippers (where they won’t have to deal with the expectations of playing next to LeBron) or the New York Knicks (where they could take one of their friends instead, and possibly team up with AD via trade or Zion Williamson).
Perhaps the only sliver of good news to come of this season is the fact that the Lakers will likely have a top 10 pick in this year’s NBA Draft. But even then, whoever they take likely won’t be ready to contribute right away and would be another young prospect adding to this team’s already young core.
Short of the Lakers hitting the lottery via trade, perhaps pulling away a player like Bradley Beal or C.J. McCollum from their incumbent teams, it’s difficult to pinpoint a blueprint to how the Lakers are going to recover from their recent missteps.
Perhaps we’re making LA’s situation more complex than it has to be, and maybe they can return to the level of play that they were playing at from opening night to Christmas Day. Perhaps Brandon Ingram returns next season healthy, and explodes unto the scene. Maybe it all finally clicks for Lonzo Ball too.
Whatever the case is or may be, it’s about to get all the more complicated this summer for the Los Angeles Lakers. And missing the playoffs will only make the whispers of LeBron’s demise even louder. Can they recover? What’s the blueprint? If you thought the Lakers were must-see TV, this summer is even going to get more entertaining.