Reassessing the Los Angeles Lakers after the first quarter of the 2021-22 NBA season.
The Los Angeles Lakers season has not been going the way they would hope so far. The Lakers are average, currently sitting at 6th in the Western Conference with a 12-11 record. The Lakers don’t judge themselves on seasons finishing above .500; they base their seasons on winning an NBA championship.
The championship chances for the Lakers don’t seem promising as a majority of their wins have come over bad teams. The only teams the Lakers have beaten with a winning record are the Miami Heat and Memphis Grizzlies.
The Lakers have beaten up on the bad teams to inflate their record. It helps they have a pair of wins over some of the worst teams in the NBA – the Rockets, Spurs, and Pistons.
So far, early in the season, the Lakers’ main issue has been their struggles on defense. When they won the championship in the bubble, they did it with lockdown defense. Now teams are knocking down shots on them at an alarming rate. The Lakers are allowing over 113 points per game, ranking them 27th in the league.
The loss of Alex Caruso and KCP has taken a toll. KCP and Caruso’s defensive versatility allowed them to switch on multiple positions. The Chicago Bulls are currently thriving on defense with their newly acquired guard, Alex Caruso.
The Lakers let Marc Gasol go in the offseason to introduce DeAndre Jordan. Jordan was once an effective rim protector but has become a massive liability on both ends of the floor. Jordan lacks explosiveness on offense and horizontal movement on defense.
The Lakers opted for offense over defense, and the offense hasn’t been there either. Their marquee acquisition was Russell Westbrook, who has not found much rhythm in LA. Westbrook is currently averaging 20.7 points per game with shooting averages of 44.5 %FG, 30% 3PFG, and 68%FT.
Once you factor in RW’s cap hold, he controls a massive portion of the salary cap to perform at a level less than an All-Star.
Anthony Davis has also struggled to shoot the ball this season. Most notably, he is shooting 19% from 3 this year. The Lakers have not been great on offense, currently possessing the 23rd best offense rating.
It is still early in the season, and some factors have slowed this team down. Lebron has missed time due to injury. So have Rondo, Avery Bradley, and Trevor Ariza.
This is still a new team figuring out how to play with one another. Frank Vogel is trying different lineups to find who he can and can not rely on.
We all know by now if things are not working out for a LeBron James’ team by midseason, he is not afraid to let the front office know they can deal with whoever they need to to build a contender. If the Lakers don’t show any life when everyone is healthy, we might be seeing something similar to the 2018 Cavaliers trade deadline.