3. The Lakers are in real trouble
This was meant to be the season where the Los Angeles Lakers bounced back after an injury-ridden 2020-21. The addition of Russell Westbrook was meant to vault Los Angeles back to title contention, but so far all this move has done is made the Lakers worse.
The Purple and Gold are currently 5-5 and this includes two terrible losses vs. OKC where LA was miles ahead on both occasions. The Lakers cannot defend at all right now, something that wasn’t a problem over the last two seasons.
When LA won the title in 2020, they had the 4th best defense in the NBA (107.6 PPG) and had the 3rd best defensive rating (106.3). In 2021, a similar story; 2nd best defense (106.8 PPG) and best defensive rating (107.1). Now they have the 4th worst defense in the league (111.3) and only the 12th best defensive rating (103.2).
LA is playing way too fast for the roster they have. They have the highest pace in the NBA (103.2), but they don’t have a great offense to show for it. They would be better served by slowing the game down a bit, executing in the half-court, and then getting back early on defense.
It’s still early days, so there is lots of time for improvement. The alarm bells should be ringing though.