The pain is finally over for Lakers fans around the world. In what might be described as one of the worst seasons in franchise history, the Los Angeles Lakers are officially out of playoff contention after failing to qualify for the play-in tournament. Despite having 3 superstars (more or less) in their primes in LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook, the Lakers’ players will be watching the postseason from their homes.
- 5. Frank Vogel Does Not Deserve His Job
- 4. The Roster Was Poorly Built… And Blame Goes To Management
- 3. Anthony Davis’ Health Killed The Team Yet Again
- 2. LeBron James Was Spectacular… On Offense
- 1. Choosing Russell Westbrook Over DeMar DeRozan And Buddy Hield Was A Big Mistake
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Their record, as currently stands, is putrid at 31-48. With the 11th seed in the West, nobody could have predicted such poor play at the start of the year. There is absolutely no way the New Orleans Pelicans without Zion Williamson, the Los Angeles Clippers without Kawi Leonard and Paul George, and a San Antonio Spurs side devoid of real talent should be ahead of the Lakers in the standings.
But that fact is true this season, meaning the Lakers are one of the worst teams in the NBA. So what went wrong for the Purple and Gold? How did a roster filled with superstar names fail to deliver consistently against good teams and even bad teams? Here is what went wrong for the Los Angeles Lakers this season.
5. Frank Vogel Does Not Deserve His Job
There is no secret that Frank Vogel will have to find a new job next year. While it is extremely unfair to the coach of the 2020 championship team to receive all the blame for a disastrous season, he certainly played a role. Sure, he was not given the tools to succeed (more on that later). Sure, his second-best player missed a ton of games. But a head coach needs to get the best out of his players, and the 11th best record in the West is unacceptable.
Vogel did not, for whatever reason, get his team to play well enough throughout the season. For a defensive-minded coach, Frank’s team was simply awful at defending the rim and the three-point shot. He was given former All-Star bigs in Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan, but neither were reliable at defending the rim. Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony were liabilities throughout the season, and nobody had the nerve to convince LeBron James to try on defense. Overall, the Lakers hired Frank Vogel two years ago because of his defensive mind, and the team this year did not carry out those principles. Even if Vogel is not the biggest reason for the Lakers’ poor season, he will be fired and deservedly so.
4. The Roster Was Poorly Built… And Blame Goes To Management
On paper, and in the NBA 2K video game, the Lakers looked primed for a Finals appearance. After all, how could a roster featuring this list of Hall of Famers ever fail: LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Rajon Rondo. Adding in a promising talent in Talen Horton-Tucker, Los Angeles were supposed to be a problem. But the NBA is a young man’s league, and a team with the oldest roster will not be able to compete in the modern game.
LeBron is 37, and he does not have the capabilities to carry his team to victories out of nothing. Russell Westbrook is 33 and is starting to show a decline in athleticism that was inevitable, and Dwight Howard is essentially washed at this point. Carmelo, despite his consistent scoring off the bench, is a massive defensive liability because he was never required to be a dominant on-ball defender throughout his career. Rondo is no longer part of the team, and he was also an awful fit alongside Westbrook or LeBron.
The Lakers’ brass deserves their blame for a ton of reasons. Firstly, they gave LeBron James the control to make a trade for Westbrook instead of acquiring DeMar DeRozan or Buddy Hield. Secondly, they surrounded their Big Three with washed players who do not defend. Thirdly, they willingly let go of key two-way players including Alex Caruso, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Kyle Kuzma. The roster was devoid of energy, youth, and defense; which is why the Lakers were one of the worst teams in the league, especially after the All-Star Break. The Lakers’ brass has failed to build a contender, and they deserve the bulk of the blame.
3. Anthony Davis’ Health Killed The Team Yet Again
Perhaps in Anthony Davis was healthy for the majority of the season, the Lakers might have held onto a playoff spot. That is not to say that Davis was great when he played, but he made them slightly better. Los Angeles was 14-25 without Davis this season, compared to 17-23 with him. While neither record is impressive, they looked like a slightly more formidable team when Davis was on the floor.
It is expected that a 6’11” big man who can defend the rim could have made a difference in multiple teams against sub .500 teams that the Lakers lost to without him. But that does not excuse Davis’ inconsistencies on the court, because he only shot 18.6% from three and 71.3% from the free-throw line, awful numbers. Davis’ inability to stay healthy caused chemistry issues and also forced Frank Vogel to rely on role players such as Austin Reaves and Malik Monk to be the most consistent pieces on the team outside of LeBron James.
2. LeBron James Was Spectacular… On Offense
There is no doubt that LeBron James was spectacular on the offensive end of the floor, putting up 30.3 PPG on 52.4% from the field and 35.9% from three. The King had an extra spring in his step on the offensive end this season, and will easily be an All-NBA First or Second Team member at the end of the year. We have not seen a player at age 37 score the ball like he did, a testament to his greatness as an all-time great superstar.
But James was mainly an offensive machine, not necessarily a winning figure for his side. At age 37, he gets a pass in that regard because it would be unreal to assume The King can make up for the team’s deficiencies on defense. But there is no denying James was looking to pass far less often this year compared to others because he averaged the 4th lowest APG stat for his career. Because James, at age 37, could only focus on offense, the Lakers had to make up for his defensive inefficiencies. Unfortunately, the team was unable to do that and added to its deficiency with even worse defenders. Perhaps most importantly, it is widely believed that this roster is a result of LeBron’s input, and as the leader of the team, he deserves blame for believing he could work well together with Russell Westbrook on the floor.
1. Choosing Russell Westbrook Over DeMar DeRozan And Buddy Hield Was A Big Mistake
Anybody who knows anything about basketball will readily admit Russell Westbrook had arguably the worst season of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers. After getting traded by the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, and Washington Wizards; the Lakers truly felt they could get the best out of a ball-dominant point guard with a below-average shooting ability. We saw how Westbrook fails to get along with another ball-dominant star, so trusting a 37-year-old LeBron James to somehow fix that was ridiculous.
Russell’s statistics look decent on paper: 18.5 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 7.1 APG but he is only shooting 29.8% from three and 66.7% from the free-throw line. Not only is Russ arguably the worst 3-point shooter in the league, but he also struggles to make free throws at an average clip at best. Most importantly, Russ had a tendency to kill team chemistry by missing shots badly and turning the ball over. This year, Westbrook is averaging 3.8 TOV and is leading the NBA in total turnovers. A turnover-prone, ball-dominant point guard without a three-point shot is the worst possible teammate for LeBron James, yet he was taken over DeMar DeRozan and Buddy Hield.
Not to mention, Westbrook’s post-game comments and lack of responsibility for his play have also convinced almost every Laker fan that he is not built for this franchise.
Once again, this comes down to Lakers’ management for signing off on Westbrook (thanks to LeBron’s input) instead of a superstar scorer in DeRozan and a three-point specialist in Hield. There is no doubt that DeRozan (All-NBA Team performer averaging 28.2 PPG on 50.5% FG) and Hield (15.6 PPG on 36.6% 3-PT FG) would have made the team better. Instead, having Russell Westbrook on the team killed the Lakers’ chances before the season even started. The poorly built roster, Davis’ injuries, Vogel’s poor coaching, and LeBron’s age just piled on top of a disastrous Lakers season that has resulted in a lack of postseason action.
