With the NBA season just a couple of months away, a lot of people are putting out early projections. ESPN has been releasing their predictions on the win-loss record for every team. On Thursday, they did their Western Conference standings projections. In their projections, they have the Los Angeles Lakers finishing with a record of 44-38. This will be a three win decrease from last year. Their projected record put them in a tie with the Rockets and Grizzlies. While those two teams came up as seeds nine and 10, the Lakers were listed at 11th. If they do end up missing the playoffs and Play-In Tournament based on the projections by ESPN, what will this mean for the Lakers going forward?
This offseason, the Lakers have brought in first time head coach JJ Redick to hopefully get this team back into contention. However, outside of that, the Lakers have done very little in improving the roster from last season. They are essentially running it back with the same group. Next offseason, there might be significant changes for the Lakers if they fail to even make the playoffs. Here are what some of those changes might be.
Missing The Playoffs Could Have Major Implications For Lakers
LeBron Could Retire if the Lakers Miss the Playoffs
LeBron James will be turning 40 years old this December. Even though he is still playing at a remarkable high level, he may decide to retire if the Lakers fail to make the playoffs. He has nothing else to prove with his legacy. To go along with that, there are some people who already view him as the greatest basketball player ever. In addition, his legacy might have taken a small hit with his tenure on the Lakers. Since the Lakers won the bubble championship, there hasn’t been much success for the Lakers.
They have lost in the first round of the playoffs twice, which prior to the Lakers, LeBron had never lost in the first round. One year they didn’t even make the playoffs, and the other they lost in the conference finals. Furthermore, the Lakers as a front office have done very little in improving this team from a year-to-year basis. LeBron may not want to go through another long season with no championship aspirations. The only thing that might keep him from retiring is being able to play with his son longer. Regardless, that may not even be enough for him to stay and keep playing.
Lakers Could Trade Anthony Davis if They Miss the Playoffs
With the Lakers potentially missing the playoffs and LeBron’s possible retirement, trading Anthony Davis might be the best option. This will most likely only happen if LeBron decides to retire. Davis will be turning 32 years old in March. He isn’t young enough to be someone to rebuild with post-LeBron. In addition, he is also an injury-prone player. In his five seasons in LA, he has only played over 60 games twice.
This is why trading him might be the best option for the Lakers. With him soon being 32, and the injury history he has, getting a significant return from him may not happen anymore. However, at this point getting what you can from him wouldn’t be a bad thing. Getting first round picks and a young player might be what they can get for him at this point. Furthermore, if they can get that offer for him or something similar, it would help kick start their rebuild in a big way.
The Lakers Could Start a Rebuild if They Miss the Playoffs
If LeBron retires, and the Lakers decide to trade Davis, it will fully indicate they are starting a rebuild. In addition to that, D’Angelo Russell will be off the books as well. He will be a free agent next offseason. Being in a rebuild is not what Lakers fans want to hear or hope for after next season. However, the Lakers have some nice young pieces to build around and a young coach to go along with it. So if done right, the turnaround won’t be that long. By trading Davis, they can hope to regain some draft capital that is significantly needed, plus maybe a young player as well.
Then to go with that, they have Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, Dalton Knecht, and Max Christie amongst others as a nice young core to build with. By trading away Davis, and LeBron retiring, the Lakers should have some cap space to be able to work with going into next offseason. The pieces are in place for them to work with if they do end up in a rebuild next offseason.
How The Lakers Got to This Point
How did the Lakers get to this point of potentially missing the playoffs. It all started after they won the bubble championship in 2020. Everything was going well for them at the time, and they were in prime position to compete for many years to come. However, they decided to let Alex Caruso walk and traded away Kyle Kuzma for Russell Westbrook. The Westbrook experiment never worked out, and they ended up trading him away.
Finally, entering this offseason, they had the draft picks available and assets to use to go after a young star. Especially in today’s NBA, where every good team has a star in their early-to-mid 20’s. However, the Lakers were unable to get anyone this offseason, and are instead running it back. With other teams in the West getting better, they may find themselves on the outside looking in come April.
