LeBron James couldn’t deliver the Lakers a win against the Atlanta Hawks, as the team fell to a 122-138 loss without Anthony Davis. The Lakers lost their last game to the under .500 Rockets as well, failing to improve their record despite facing two teams outside the top 10 in their conference.
These losses prompted a somber LeBron to admit the team is average and inconsistent.
“We could on any given night beat any team in the NBA. And then on any given night, we could get our ass kicked by any team in the NBA. What’s our record? One game under .500? 24-25? That’s who we are.”
LeBron James on the 24-25 Lakers: “We could on any given night beat any team in the NBA. And then on any given night we could get our ass kicked” pic.twitter.com/IlKra5XAmy
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 31, 2024
LeBron put up 20 points in the loss, not being able to take over and seal the win. The Lakers are 0-3 without Anthony Davis this season, proving that AD might be the franchise’s most valuable player on the court this season. But even with a healthy AD, the Lakers haven’t fared exceptionally well and are around .500 in games he’s played.
With James’ admission, it might be time to realize that the Lakers’ best-case scenario is to somehow make the playoffs. It worked last year and resulted in a run to the Conference Finals, but might not be enough this season for a fractured roster. A trade can’t change who they are at this point, so the team may need to accept the situation they find themselves in.
The Lakers Can’t Be Fixed With One Move This Season
The Lakers have perenially been one move away from contention. Acquiring Anthony Davis’ in 2019 was that one move that resulted in a dominant season and a championship. They made minor changes in 2020-21 and lost in the first round after injuries collapsed their hopes towards the end of the season.
They tried making that one move again and it ruined the future of the team, as they let go of complementary role-players like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma to get Russell Westbrook. The horrible fit led to a doomed season-and-a-half, with the Lakers not being a playoff contender at any point with Russ on the roster.
They got their ‘one move’ again when they traded Westbrook for complementary role-players, going all the way to the Western Conference Finals before losing in a competitive 4-0 sweep to the eventual champions. They tried bolstering that roster this summer and it hasn’t worked so far. Despite the moves looking like the right ones on paper, we haven’t seen those results.
A lot of the blame can and should be put on Darvin Ham. But it seems Ham has job security till the end of the season, casting a shadow over contention chances this year. Even if the team makes a trade to acquire someone like Dejounte Murray, it won’t address their inconsistent frontline beyond their two stars or guard production.
Inconsistency all around the Lakers has been a massive problem. Maybe the right coach can change it, but if the Lakers have to wait for the offseason for Jeanie Buss to make that decision, the Lakers are likely out of contention this year.
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