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#18 in the LBB end of the season team rankings...

Jul 20, 2024

Alright, with the 18^th ranked team we can finally start to activate some animus. While Lakers stans everywhere are surely offended by their team being slotted at 18, the truth is, by most metrics that’s where this group roughly was last year. While I am a believer that as a playoff unit the Lakers are a more viable threat than some of the teams above them, when we take the long view, this is a roster that benefited from a level of health last season—where Davis and James are concerned—that would be foolish to count upon again, and who really made no moves to alter the feeling of reheated leftovers as they venture into next season.

#18 Los Angeles Lakers

Record: 47-35 (tied-12^th); 8^th in the West; 101.38 Pace (4^th); 115.4 Offensive Rating (15^th); 114.8 Defensive Rating (17^th); 0.6 Net Rating (19^th)

Total Salary Cap Allocations: $205,366,009 (5^th )

Cap Space: $-64,778,009 (26^th)

Current Roster: Max Christie, Anthony Davis, Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Bronny James Jr., LeBron James, Dalton Knecht, Maxwell Lewis, Austin Reaves, Cam Reddish, D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent, Christian Wood

Single Word Description: Aggrandized

Biggest Positive: Austin Reaves. Perhaps part of this selection is a meta-assessment of how little Los Angeles did to move the margins for their team so far this summer, leaving few options for positive focuses going into next season. Sure, Dalton Knecht as a ready-made scorer has a chance to have an impact, but rookies rarely move the needle on established teams, particularly rookies swallowed into LeBron’s orbit. While I think Knecht will have some good moments and likely be a second-team All-Rookie performer, it’s the potential to see Austin unleashed that I think has the greatest ability to have additive impact for the Lakers. Last season, in his third year in the league, Reaves was very good for Los Angeles, averaging career-highs in points (15.9), assists (5.5), rebounds (4.3), and threes per contest (1.9). Yet it was clear that he and former coach Darvin Ham were not on the same page for much of the season. Another offseason of development, plus a new coach with a presumed affinity for getting shooters good looks, gives me the impression that Reaves may flirt with 20 points per game this coming season. The biggest impediment to that improvement may just be a matter of finding enough opportunities for both Reaves and D’Angelo Russell, as playing the two together creates some significant liabilities defensively. D’Lo also tends to get a little shot-jealous when the two are on the floor together, so the balancing act needed to not lose the mercurial Russell, while also letting Reaves continue to develop offensively, may be the biggest early challenge for new coach JJ—at least until the trade deadline.

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Biggest Negative: Constant Drama. Look, with the fact that they’re located in Los Angeles and employ LeBron James, it’s expected that the Lakers would be willful merchants of drama. Still, it’s undeniable that the ways in which this team is over-scrutinized—in large part because of their best player’s need to ensure the media’s spotlight remains affixed directly upon him—and the way LA is unnecessarily shoehorned into every news outlet's daily narratives, has created a turbulent workplace environment in Los Angeles. The machinations surrounding the hiring of JJ Redick and the drafting of Bronny only add more fuel to the Lakers' dramatic inferno. Whether Redick is a good coach or not remains to be seen, but unfortunately for him, he will not be given the patience that is very necessary for a first-year coach with a so-so roster. It was undeniable that Darvin Ham’s combination of tactical gaffes and strange roster decisions did him in, but many of those mistakes come with learning the job. Additionally, Ham had experience as an assistant coach for several years—a benefit that Redick does not enter the role with. While Redick’s media savvy will undoubtedly aid him as he manages the Los Angeles press circus, earning him some grace that Ham, who struggled to articulate himself at times in ways that were unfairly weaponized against him, didn’t have, the reality is that a relatively young and objectively inexperienced Redick now steps into perhaps the most difficult coaching job in the league.

In terms of Bronny, the how of him entering the NBA will drive an ever-flowing undercurrent of distraction that is by no creation of his own, but that he and his teammates will be forced to swim against for the entire season. If summer league is any indicator, Bronny, no matter the performance, will continue to be a major source of intrigue and inquiry by the media. Having to answer perpetual questions about Bronny, who will likely be one of the least deserving players on the team in terms of receiving minutes, is by its very nature a distraction. That is in no way intended as a knock on Bronny, and while I don’t love the process, it’s not really a knock on LeBron. Honestly, if you’re the Lakers, and drafting Bronny is the cost of doing business with a player in LeBron who maintains relevance for your franchise no matter what the on-court performance may look like, it’s a worthwhile toll to pay considering that he already hung a banner in your rafters and may very well retire in your jersey. However, that reality does not change the fact that it has created an environment that has to be difficult for teammates and staff to contend with on a daily basis.

What’s Next: In the immediate, I would fully expect it to be much of the same: An inconsistent regular season that is blamed partially on the new coach and partially on roster design, far too much conversation about the trade deadline, followed by over-excitement during the waiver period, and ultimately a first or second-round exit. And that would be counting on health, which between a 39-year-old James and an Anthony Davis who is always one fall away from calamity, is not a surefire bet. Beyond that, it’s murky. We keep hearing about the Lakers becoming Davis’s team, but there is nothing in his profile at this point to lead one to believe that that is a role he is either willing or capable of. Davis is the Jared Leto of the NBA: all the ability in the world, but everyone seems far better off if he is not taking full control—fortunately Davis also avoids freestyling with terrible accents, though a unibrow parallel could be forced into the comparison. The long-term plan in LA is always based on the next big player deciding to make the Lakers their desired destination, so while I have them this low because I haven’t loved their offseason and really there is nothing to be particularly excited about with this group projecting forward, it’s the Lakers, they’re just waiting for the next player looking to land a statue on Star Plaza.

What They Shouldn’t Do: Rush expectations for Redick. I fully recognize that this is an impossible appeal, but it would be folly to expect JJ Redick to come in and immediately improve this group. While Redick has shown himself to be one of the more astute young basketball minds in the media space, the history of first-year coaches with no prior experience is not great. More so, Redick is the only first-year coach in that group who will have to contend with a superstar who is notorious for undermining his coaches and graduated from high school just a year after he did. The power dynamics in the locker room are always tricky with LeBron, and while the friendship the two seem to share may make the initial process smoother, LeBron does not take long to get impatient. Redick should come in and immediately make a difference in terms of schematic organization, and it would be fair to assume that Redick’s own playing style should likely inform how he handles and benefits shooters on the team like Knecht, Reaves, Russell, and a healthy Gabe Vincent. However, NBA coaching is an extremely tough job, often assessed by the slimmest of margins that are decided by a constantly churning confluence of skill, luck, and timing. We’ll see how the first two work out for Redick, but in terms of timing, taking over a franchise that has barely been above .500 over the last four seasons combined (165-153), with one superstar who will eventually lose his stranglehold on father time, and another who is about as durable as paper mâché, does not bode well for the idea of Redick nailing the temporal landing.

Is There Hope?: It’s the Lakers, so hope springs eternal in this era of player movement. Yet, any expectation that Los Angeles is one move away from anything more than what they currently are, would have to hinge on a player arriving that is of far greater impact than what the market seems to project as available in the coming six months.

Links to Other Team Reviews:

#30 Brooklyn Nets

#29 Washington Wizards

#28 Portland Trail Blazers

#27 Detroit Pistons

#26 Charlotte Hornets

#25 Toronto Raptors

#20 Golden State Warriors