Lakers

If the Los Angeles Lakers made anything clear at the 2022 trade deadline, it was this: they don't want to do what it will take to fix this.

But if anything was going to motivate the Lakers to look in the mirror and re-evaluate the way they do business, it was going to be missing the playoffs. Any notion that they could carry the same nonchalant attitude that informed their trade deadline into the offseason needed to be erased here and now. No, the Lakers needed to be embarrassed. Those are the only two components of this roster that have earned significant roles next season. After all, those same Suns would have awaited the Lakers in the first round if they'd somehow managed to squeak their way into the playoffs. The Lakers would have lost that series and they would have lost it badly, but just getting there would have given this front office an excuse, a myth of momentum. Sure, their season would have ended the same way, but with just enough oomph to justify further inaction. On Tuesday, the Phoenix Suns ended the Lakers' season for the second year in a row. That rookie is going to be a huge help for James when he arrives a few months before LeBron's 43rd birthday. And their front office wasn't willing to do a thing about it. They were problems that the Lakers hoped would fix themselves. This is the bed you have made.

Anthony Davis is being trolled by the New Orleans Pelicans, who got the last laugh and a potential first-round draft pick from the Lakers.

"When we put this team together we had championship aspirations but injuries took that away from us," Davis told reporters Tuesday after the Lakers were eliminated from the postseason. The surging Pelicans have locked down a play-in spot thanks to the addition of CJ McCollum at the trade deadline. We know the position that we are in. Davis added: "We know what we are fighting for. In 2019, Anthony Davis wore a shirt inscribed with the Looney Toons sign off, "That's all folks," to the Pelicans' season finale after he publicly requested a trade. "After tonight’s results, our Play-In Match Up is set.

The Los Angeles Lakers problems were not all Russell Westbrook's fault, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Frank Vogel and the front office equally share blame.

Furthermore, among the 457 qualified lineups, the Lakers trio ranks 382nd in plus-minus at minus-34. The trio only played a mere 21 games, good for 393 minutes together as a three-man lineup. With that well in perspective, one title during extreme extenuating circumstances due to the pandemic does excuse nearly a decade of mediocrity.

Will anybody trade for Russell Westbrook? Here are some queries Los Angeles must answer this offseason.

That person also has to be somebody who can command the respect of James and Davis and hold them accountable, which Vogel was able to do during the team’s best moments. Those two contracts may be the best opportunity for the Lakers to find a mid-priced veteran, even if they have to attach a pick to do so. This has become a constant question for Davis, and the Lakers need to figure out a way to get through to him. If the Lakers are actually committed to rebuilding this roster the right way, a significant step toward success would be building this roster in the vision of Davis playing center. Finding vets who actually have something left in the tank should be a priority for the front office. The Westbrook trade is not the only reason the Lakers were a trainwreck this season, but it was basically the first domino for all the mistakes that followed. Moving THT could be the best avenue to bring in at least one of those players. Vogel was very much not the problem this season. Finding a taker for Westbrook has to be priority one for Los Angeles this offseason. While the Lakers’ season is not officially over, their disastrous 2022 run reached another milestone Tuesday night, when the team was eliminated from any postseason contention after a loss to the Suns. Los Angeles is now not even eligible for the play-in tournament, cementing what has been one of the most hilarious and frankly unsurprisingly awful seasons in recent NBA history. Still, simply creating a more balanced roster would go a long way in returning this team to respectability. The Lakers desperately need youth and shooting, (and defense would be a plus). If the Knicks could somehow be convinced to part ways with say, Alec Burks and Evan Fournier, the Lakers start to make a lot more sense on paper around LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The ultimate goal for this team should be to find multiple 3-and-D types to put around their two stars, instead of one player who isn’t particularly good at either.

Despite being one of the two preseason betting favorites, Los Angeles won't even make the play-in tournament.

They didn’t win a title, didn’t reach the Finals, didn’t even qualify for the play-in game as the 10th-best team out of 15 in a shallow Western Conference. Statistically, among teams projected to contend for a title, the 2021-22 Lakers are the largest underachiever for as far back as we have data. “Our goal was to win a championship,” Davis said Tuesday. “Feel like we had the pieces, but injuries got in the way of that. The Lakers—like most teams this season—lost numerous players to injury, too, most notably James and Davis for a combined 60 games. The Lakers, with a mark of 52.5 this preseason, are one of 149 teams this century projected to win at least 50 games (or the equivalent of 50 out of 82 games in a shorter season). And out of that 149-team group, the Lakers will almost certainly fall short of their over/under total by the widest margin. 2 preseason betting favorite to win the championship, behind only the Nets. Never mind that the roster looked incredibly old or that Westbrook didn’t seem like a great fit on this roster or that the Lakers had just lost in the first round of the playoffs to a better Suns team. Injuries hampered the Lakers’ efforts to meet expectations, of course, as they did for many teams on that chart. It’s difficult to gauge each team’s preseason outlook in the earliest NBA decades, but we can at least start in 1984-85, which is the first season for which Basketball-Reference lists preseason title odds. But the Lakers fell, and they fell hard. 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.” But are the 2021-22 Lakers, overall, the greatest disappointment in NBA history? A title is a title, and the Lakers’ 2020 banner will fly forever. In four seasons in his return to the Cavaliers, LeBron reached four more Finals, winning one.

The Los Angeles Lakers made no secret they were a team built to win a championship this season. Instead, they won't even make the playoffs.

Lakers coach Frank Vogel said he was “extremely disappointed” that the season will end short of the postseason. “That is the plan, but nothing is promised,” said Westbrook, who took a big chunk of criticism aimed at the team. “That was the difference in our season.” “It is nothing more than we just didn’t get it done,” Lakers forward Carmelo Anthony said. In a development that few would have seen coming six months ago, the Lakers were eliminated from the playoff race on Tuesday night after a 121-110 loss to the Phoenix Suns. Westbrook scored 28 points, Davis added 21 and James watched from the bench, nursing a sore ankle that kept him out for a second straight game. Davis has only been available for about half the season, missing time with knee and foot ailments.

The Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated from the play-in tournament, which makes it almost a lock that the Pelicans will get their draft pick.

- #3-6.7% - #2-6.3% - #1-6%

Magic Johnson caused quite the stir earlier this week in an appearance ESPN Get Up! The LA legend, and former Lakers president of basketball operations, ...

Adding a third All-NBA caliber player surely would have done the Lakers some good this year. When DeRozan was in town in L.A., and he basically stuck it to the Lakers. The impression that I got from his camp was that DeRozan felt that the Lakers were in sort of disarray. The coulda-shoulda-woulda zealots came out in force.

The Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated from the playoffs after their loss to the Suns on Tuesday, and NBA Twitter dunked all over them for it.

— Overtime (@overtime)April 6, 2022 — Jasmine (@JasmineLWatkins)April 6, 2022 — Jasmine (@JasmineLWatkins)April 6, 2022 — Overtime (@overtime)April 6, 2022 — Overtime (@overtime)April 6, 2022 The Lakers have been eliminated from the playoffs.

A team that started the season with hopes of winning the NBA championship after forming a new 'Big 3' with LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook ...