With the NBA trade deadline in the rearview mirror now, the Los Angeles Lakers have no choice but to try and make things work with the players they have. Unfortunately, the roster hasn’t been the best fit as several key players have had trouble finding their rhythm and place in the Lakers’ system.
For some, time is all they need to get their act together.
And while Saturday’s performance in Golden State was a good sign for the team, not everyone is convinced they are capable of being true title contenders.
“They can play better, they can get better. They have been playing awful, I think everyone up here can admit that. So can it get better? Yes, it can. Are they ever going to get to a spot with this current roster that they can contend for the Western Conference or they can contend for a Championship? That answer is still no.
I think, at best, if this team got things going maybe they get to the second round and don’t have another first-round loss like they had last year. What they don’t want to do is get into the play-in game, not be playing great basketball, then have to go against an absolute juggernaut in Phoenix or Golden State. That would be a first-round exit for them.”
On one hand, the Lakers have LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Those two alone are enough to compete against anyone in the West. Add in Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, and the rest of the supporting cast, and it seems unwise to count them out.
On the other hand, both James and Davis have struggled to stay healthy and nobody else has been a reliable contributor. The team’s flaws go deeper than strategy and it seems that the roster itself is the problem.
Whatever the case, these Lakers are running out of time to figure it out.
