Lakers Look Ready to Miss Playoffs

LeBron James is in Hollywood trying to save the Looney Tunes, too bad he can’t do the same for his real life Lakers teammates. The Los Angeles Lakers are currently in tenth place in the Western Conference, having lost five of their last six games and are in serious danger of missing the playoffs.

Things aren’t going to get easier. In their loss against the Clippers, Brandon Ingram was sidelined with a shoulder injury and Kyle Kuzma suffered an ankle injury. Kuzma, the team’s second best player, is now expected to miss up to a week with a mild ankle sprain. Injuries have really hurt this team, even LeBron sat out 18 games after suffering a groin strain on Christmas.

Starting point guard Lonzo Ball has been sidelined with an ankle injury and with the team this far out of the playoffs it does not appear like he will play again this season. As of today, he has not practiced with the team and has only done “light shooting“, no jumping.

While injuries can be a cause of the team’s struggles, we cannot forget the elephant in the room, the failed Anthony Davis trade. How can a team have chemistry after hearing they were all on the chopping block by one of their fellow teammates?

How is that practice the next day not awkward? Head coach Luke Walton and players can try to deny it, but there is no way things were ever the same after that. Players have tried to stay positive and say they just need to work harder to get themselves out of this hole.

Second year shooting guard Josh Hart told the LA Times, “We have the talent, we have the ability, we have the leadership to pile up wins and to make a run for the playoffs, but we have to do that as a collective unit. And if we don’t believe in each other, we don’t trust each other, offensively or defensively, we’re gonna fail. That’s not how you win.”

If we are going to be honest, however, this team never made much sense. Before James brought his talent to Los Angeles, this was a young team was one of the most entertaining and exciting teams in the league. They still were not good enough to make the playoffs, but it was a vast improvement since Kobe Bryant retired.

When James announced he was going to sign with Magic Johnson and the Lakers, the idea was intriguing of LeBron playing with these young guys who are still hungry to win. The idea was that he would elevate their game to match his. Unfortunately, moves like signing Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson and Javale McGee seemed counterproductive to that.

These are the types of signings we would see James make during his time with Cleveland; veteran guys who can come off the bench and run the team while starters got rest. Signing Rajon Rondo who fully expected to start when Lonzo Ball was already the starter had to make for some tension.

Their remaining schedule does not do them any favors. The team is 5.5 games out of eighth place and faces Denver tonight. The Lakers still have to play Boston, Toronto, Milwaukee and Golden State. This team has lost to the Knicks, Hawks, Cavs and most recently the Suns; all games they should have easily won.

Many are asking for this team to tank the rest of the way in order to secure a better draft position. James has never been on a team that was trying to lose and for this young team it probably isn’t a great idea. Let whoever is healthy finish this season strong and have something to build for next season.