WS Chronicle

The Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated from playoff contention last week. This was not the result anyone saw coming at the beginning of the year. The question now is what moves need to be made to avoid another catastrophic season next year?

With all of the talent the Lakers have on their roster, it was never a thought that they would not make the playoffs. Injuries, lack of continuity and bad defense have left the Lakers on the outside looking in when it comes to the Western Conference playoffs.

This is the second time in James’ four years with the Lakers that the team has missed the playoffs. This season started with so much promise for Los Angeles and for it to end this way has to hurt.

“Extremely disappointed,” said Lakers coach Frank Vogel. “Disappointed for our fan base. Disappointed for the Buss family, who gave us all this opportunity, and we want to play our part in bringing success to Laker basketball and we fell short.”

It was kind of ironic that the Lakers’ postseason hopes were crushed by the same team that eliminated them from last year’s playoffs in the Phoenix Suns. 

“We just didn’t get it done,” said Carmelo Anthony. “We had the tools. Some things were out of our control – some things we could control, some things we couldn’t. And it’s nothing else more than we didn’t get it done. You can’t make no excuses about it. We just didn’t get it done.”

The biggest culprit for the failures of the Lakers this season has to be injuries. Anthony Davis and LeBron James suffered injuries that cost them over 25% of the season. Without those two in the lineup on a consistent basis, it really did not allow the Big Three of Davis, James and Russell Westbrook time to gel as a unit. The trio wound up only playing 21 out of 82 games together for the entire season, which is not enough time on the court to form any sort of comfort level with one another.

I read an amazing stat that the Lakers had more starting lineups (39) than they did wins for the season (31) at that point in the season. That pretty much sums up why they have not lived up to expectations. If you have to trot out a different starting lineup nearly 50% of the time, it does not bode well for your team’s chances of success.

Another reason for the poor performance this year has been the underwhelming play of Westbrook. He has always been one of the hardest playing players in the league night in and night out, but his lackluster shooting has really hurt the team. There was a lot of chatter about him being traded before the deadline because of his dismal play. I don’t think anyone is sure he will be back next season, not even Westbrook himself.

“I mean, that’s the plan. But nothing is promised,” said Westbrook. “Yes, we want to be able to see what that looks like, what that entails over the course of an 82-game season. But we’re not sure if that’s guaranteed, either. So, I just hope that we have a chance to be able to do something.”

At the beginning of the year, both James and Davis were very confident about the Lakers chances of winning another championship, especially after the addition of Westbrook to the team. Davis couldn’t quite come to terms with the fact the Lakers were not making the playoffs this season.

“Our goal was to win a championship,” Davis said after the game against the Suns. “Feel like we had the pieces, but injuries got in the way of that. And that was the difference in the season. I think even though we lost games where all of us was on the floor – me, Bron, Russ – I think we’re three great players, but we would have figured it out if we logged more minutes together. But we weren’t able to do that, which makes it tough to be able to compete for a championship when your three best players haven’t logged enough minutes together.”

I think the lack of minutes played and the injuries were too much for the Lake Show to overcome. Coming into the season, there was a lot of chatter about the age of the Lakers’ roster and how injuries could play a part and that’s exactly what happened. Although Davis is only 29 years of age, he has a history of injuries throughout his career and this year was no different.

No one in their right mind would think that LA has a chance to compete for a title next season as presently constructed. The Westbrook experience didn’t work, James will be one year older, Davis is one of the most fragile superstars in recent history and their bench needs to be upgraded.

I think they feel the only thing they need to do is stay healthy and they will be okay. LeBron is one of the smartest basketball players the game has ever seen, so I’m sure he recognizes the problems with the Lakers’ roster and the holes they have. The question is, what do they do about it?

Westbrook is 33 years old and will make 47 million dollars next season. No team in their right mind will want to take on that contract from a point guard that can’t shoot and is highly inefficient most nights.

James is 37 years old and is not getting any younger. In reality he only has a year or two to be able to play at this elite level, so the Lakers need to maximize their opportunities while he is at this level. They don’t have the luxury to take a wait and see attitude about their roster. Moves need to be made and changes need to happen.

I am not a Lakers fan; however, I don’t want to see one of the greatest players of all time go out like this when there is a chance he can go out a winner.