3 Advantages to Los Angeles Lakers finishing as Play-In Tournament team

The Los Angeles Lakers can avoid the most complete team in the Western Conference

Looking at the landscape of the Western Conference, navigating through this side of the playoff bracket won't be easy. However, even with how competitive the West is, there's probably only one team that would be considered a complete team from top to bottom. And that's the Denver Nuggets. For as good as the Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder have been this season, both of them lack proper playoff experience and don't have as much star power as even the Lakers have.

The Nuggets have it all - from talent to depth to experience. The only other team that you can consider close to that is the LA Clippers. But even then, they still must prove they can make a deep run and avoid the injury bug once the postseason arrives. Assuming the Nuggets enter the playoffs as the third seed, which is looking more and more like a real possibility, the Lakers would successfully avoid the most complete team in the conference by entering as the 7th or 8th seed. In fact, they'd be able to avoid the Nuggets until the conference finals.

If the Lakers are going to have any shot at making a deep playoff, this may be their best path to achieving that.