The Lakers’ season started off on a promising note through the first month. On November 19th, L.A. won their sixth consecutive game which lifted their record to a strong mark of 10-4, one that was good enough to see them place near the top of the Western Conference standings. Since then, the Lakers have lost 7 of 10 games, dropping them to the 8th-seed in the West and seeing them get eliminated from the NBA Cup in the group stage after winning last season’s inaugural tournament. The recent slump has dropped their record to 13-11, one game worse than they were through 24 games last season.
What’s Gone Wrong These Past Several Weeks?
Aside from the fact that the Lakers are not winning enough games to remain among the West’s contenders, the manner of some of their recent losses has only added to the concerns surrounding the team. Four of their last six defeats have come by 25 points or more, including a 41-point hammering at the hands of the Miami Heat that took place last Wednesday.
Even some of L.A.’s close losses have been troublesome. The Lakers’ most recent loss was a 134-132 OT defeat against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, December 6th. The game saw LeBron James collect a triple-double with a 39/10/11 statline, his seventh triple-double of the season already. Anthony Davis also had an MVP-caliber performance, finishing the game with 38 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists. So how did the Lakers still manage to lose despite a combined 78 points coming from their two best players? The answer can be found when examining the inconsistency of the rest of their roster.
Players like D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and Dalton Knecht have all played well this season for the most part. However, none of them have been consistent enough to cement themselves as the clear third option for the Lakers. The rest of the lineup after the top six also presents some serious challenges. Cam Reddish, Max Christie, Gabe Vincent, and Jaxson Hayes all average over 17 minutes per game, yet none of them are averaging more than 6.5 points per game despite the extended time on the court.
The Lakers currently rank in the bottom five of the league in bench scoring, averaging under 25 points per game. Virtually all of the team’s scoring comes from their top six players and an even higher percentage falls on the shoulders of Anthony Davis and LeBron James. Their recent defeat against the Hawks showed us that the team can still be vulnerable even when LeBron and A.D. both have exemplary statistical nights.
Will Anything Change Going Forward?
Unless a trade of some kind is facilitated, it’s hard to imagine that L.A. will be any better than a lower-seeded playoff team that gets inevitably bounced in the first round. On a given night, they can occasionally look like somewhat of a contending team, but those performances are too few and far between for this team to actually hit another level as it is currently constructed.
There continues to be ongoing speculation as to whether or not the Lakers will attempt to make a splashy trade before the February 6th trade deadline. Some of the names that have been linked to trade rumors include Jonas Valančiūnas and Kyle Kuzma, the latter of whom previously played for the Lakers from 2017 to 2021 and was a member of the 2020 championship-winning squad.
Jimmy Butler appears to be the highest profile player that the Lakers have been linked to as of late. ESPN’s Shams Charania had recently reported that Butler prefers to be traded to either the Rockets, Warriors, or Mavericks; however, Butler’s agent later took to social media to debunk those claims. A potential Lakers’ trade package for Butler would presumably include some combination of role players and draft picks. It remains to be seen if the Lakers actually want to make a trade or if they plan to ride out the season with the current roster.
The Lakers’ season resumes on Friday with a tough matchup on the road against the Minnesota Timberwolves—a game that LeBron is unlikely to play in. Minnesota beat L.A. by 29 the last time they played on December 2nd.
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