So, the Los Angeles Lakers will make the play-in this year? So says ESPN’s senior NBA writer Brian Windhorst, anyway. Reacting to an NBA GM survey, the Lakers took the top spot, and Windhorst and the panel of NBA Today discussed the survey in length where Windy predicted where the Lakers will end up come playoff time.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst Says L.A. Lakers Make Play-In
Play-In Birth for the Lakers Again?
Brian Windhorst, senior writer for the NBA, gave no pause when asked about the Lakers season, specifically post-season chances. According to one of the NBA’s more interesting league-wide surveys, GMs were surveyed on which teams are the toughest to predict this season. Of the top four selections, 10% of the GMs voted the Phoenix Suns, 13% voted the New Orleans Pelicans, and the Houston Rockets also garnered 13% of votes. The Lakers take the cake, though, as 17% of NBA GMs think the LeBron James and Anthony Davis, coached by JJ Redick-led team, are the toughest team to predict this year. How about that?
Windhorst was having none of this, though—this nonsense, as it were, marking the purple and gold as the easiest team to predict.
“I actually think the Lakers are relatively easy to predict. I think they’re probably headed to the play-in, which is what they were last year; they’ve got roughly the same team coming back. We’ll see with health, last year with AD and LeBron, they actually had two extremely healthy seasons; I don’t think it’s possible for them to play more games than they did last year…”
ESPN’s brightest basketball mind went on to say that the other three teams on the survey list—the Suns, Pelicans, and Rockets—are tougher to predict. Kendrick Perkins, Windhorst’s panel counterpart, alternatively agreed with the survey. He brought up Davis and his unpredictable nature as a player, which leaks into the Lakers season.
Almost Assuredly a Play-In Team, Probably…
Windhorst is most likely correct here. The Lakers will either miss the playoffs (although that is less likely than not) or squeak in and land with a seed between 7 and 10. In the last two seasons, the Lakers made the play-in and, subsequently, the playoffs. However, James and Davis are a year older, and Windhorst played on their outstanding seasons last year regarding health. Is it too much to expect a replica of that this season? Possibly, especially considering AD’s history of long-term injuries and ailments.
To add to the hypothetical injury subject, the roster barely changed from last season. This was another point hit straight on by Windhorst. Sans Taurean Prince and Spencer Dinwiddie, the Lakers are essentially a mirrored version of last year. They were the only two notable off-season subtractions. No one knows what Los Angeles will get out of D’Angelo Russell this season (if he makes it to the end as a Laker). The same can be said for Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura.
Regardless, the Lakers are a safe bet to make the play-in. Who’s to say at this moment what a realistic alternative could be? For the Lakers to have any realistic shot, it comes down to their core’s health. If health follows the team from game one to game 82, the play-in should be in the Lakers’ sights. After that, who knows?
