The Los Angeles Lakers have entered a very dark route now that LeBron James and Anthony Davis are sidelined. Having their biggest two players out is a very bad thing for the purple and gold and even though they aren’t the only ones suffering this, they have been affected more than the other teams.
Just when they needed him the most, both James and Davis are inactive and there’s no clear date for their return. If that wasn’t enough, the rest of the league improved their level to compete against them and that will be a big problem for them if they don’t have their dynamic duo on the court. Magic Johnson explained what is the biggest problem for the Lakers this campaign other than the injuries, stating that the competition is a lot harder this season.
“When you have AD and LeBron out with injuries, that is a cause of concern and then I’m concern about the middle, too. We are not very good at shot-blocking, the things we used to be good at with Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee. We can’t close the middle down, we don’t have that type of length in our team. I hope that during this trade deadline or if somebody gets bought out, that we can solve that issue. It’s going to be tough for any team to be the Lakers if they’re healthy four times in the playoffs. I still believe in the Lakers, but the Lakers have competition this year that they didn’t have last season.”
Magic Johnson is 'nervous' about the Lakers with LeBron & AD's injuries.
"The Lakers have competition this year that they didn't have last season." pic.twitter.com/bB4uFMg2c3
— First Take (@FirstTake) March 24, 2021
Magic named the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Clippers as big rivals for the Lakers, picking the Clips as the biggest threat for the purple and gold. He also credited the Milwaukee Bucks for getting PJ Tucker and the Miami Heat for Trevor Ariza.
The Lakers have been linked with Andre Drummond in recent days, somebody who could add length to the team but his rim protection isn’t the best of all. There are at least 10 role players that could help the purple and gold and address the issues they’re having right now.
Everybody around the league made a lot of moves in the offseason to try to assemble a competitive team that made them dream to at least make the postseason. The Brooklyn Nets are considered another candidate to beat the Lakers in the Finals and if the situation keeps getting worse for the Californians, the New Yorkers or the Sixers or the Bucks won’t need to face them to win the championship this year.
