The Los Angeles Lakers can attempt to handpick their first-round opponent
One potential bright side to the Los Angeles Lakers finishing as a Play-In Tournament team in the Western Conference is the fact that they would essentially be able to handpick their first-round opponent. Of course, they'd have to play their way into doing so and would have to finish as either the 7th or 8th seed to properly do so, but that option would be on the table as a Play-In team for the Lakers.
If Los Angeles favors one matchup over another, that could be on the table for the team. Even though the Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder have consistently been two of the best teams in the Western Conference all season long, I'd still imagine those are the two "favorites" that many teams would rather see over the likes of the Denver Nuggets and LA Clippers in a possible first-round matchup.
If the Lakers were to finish as a top 2 team in the Play-In Tournament, the Lakers would basically be able to pick, for better or worse, who they would want to play in a first-round playoff matchup.