Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers problems were not all Russell Westbrook's fault, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Frank Vogel and the front office equally share blame.

Furthermore, among the 457 qualified lineups, the Lakers trio ranks 382nd in plus-minus at minus-34. The trio only played a mere 21 games, good for 393 minutes together as a three-man lineup. With that well in perspective, one title during extreme extenuating circumstances due to the pandemic does excuse nearly a decade of mediocrity.

Will anybody trade for Russell Westbrook? Here are some queries Los Angeles must answer this offseason.

That person also has to be somebody who can command the respect of James and Davis and hold them accountable, which Vogel was able to do during the team’s best moments. Those two contracts may be the best opportunity for the Lakers to find a mid-priced veteran, even if they have to attach a pick to do so. This has become a constant question for Davis, and the Lakers need to figure out a way to get through to him. If the Lakers are actually committed to rebuilding this roster the right way, a significant step toward success would be building this roster in the vision of Davis playing center. Finding vets who actually have something left in the tank should be a priority for the front office. The Westbrook trade is not the only reason the Lakers were a trainwreck this season, but it was basically the first domino for all the mistakes that followed. Moving THT could be the best avenue to bring in at least one of those players. Vogel was very much not the problem this season. Finding a taker for Westbrook has to be priority one for Los Angeles this offseason. While the Lakers’ season is not officially over, their disastrous 2022 run reached another milestone Tuesday night, when the team was eliminated from any postseason contention after a loss to the Suns. Los Angeles is now not even eligible for the play-in tournament, cementing what has been one of the most hilarious and frankly unsurprisingly awful seasons in recent NBA history. Still, simply creating a more balanced roster would go a long way in returning this team to respectability. The Lakers desperately need youth and shooting, (and defense would be a plus). If the Knicks could somehow be convinced to part ways with say, Alec Burks and Evan Fournier, the Lakers start to make a lot more sense on paper around LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The ultimate goal for this team should be to find multiple 3-and-D types to put around their two stars, instead of one player who isn’t particularly good at either.

Despite being one of the two preseason betting favorites, Los Angeles won't even make the play-in tournament.

They didn’t win a title, didn’t reach the Finals, didn’t even qualify for the play-in game as the 10th-best team out of 15 in a shallow Western Conference. Statistically, among teams projected to contend for a title, the 2021-22 Lakers are the largest underachiever for as far back as we have data. “Our goal was to win a championship,” Davis said Tuesday. “Feel like we had the pieces, but injuries got in the way of that. The Lakers—like most teams this season—lost numerous players to injury, too, most notably James and Davis for a combined 60 games. The Lakers, with a mark of 52.5 this preseason, are one of 149 teams this century projected to win at least 50 games (or the equivalent of 50 out of 82 games in a shorter season). And out of that 149-team group, the Lakers will almost certainly fall short of their over/under total by the widest margin. 2 preseason betting favorite to win the championship, behind only the Nets. Never mind that the roster looked incredibly old or that Westbrook didn’t seem like a great fit on this roster or that the Lakers had just lost in the first round of the playoffs to a better Suns team. Injuries hampered the Lakers’ efforts to meet expectations, of course, as they did for many teams on that chart. It’s difficult to gauge each team’s preseason outlook in the earliest NBA decades, but we can at least start in 1984-85, which is the first season for which Basketball-Reference lists preseason title odds. But the Lakers fell, and they fell hard. Disappointed for the Buss family, who gave us all this opportunity, and we want to play our part in bringing success to Laker basketball and we fell short.” But are the 2021-22 Lakers, overall, the greatest disappointment in NBA history? A title is a title, and the Lakers’ 2020 banner will fly forever. In four seasons in his return to the Cavaliers, LeBron reached four more Finals, winning one.

The Los Angeles Lakers made no secret they were a team built to win a championship this season. Instead, they won't even make the playoffs.

Lakers coach Frank Vogel said he was “extremely disappointed” that the season will end short of the postseason. “That is the plan, but nothing is promised,” said Westbrook, who took a big chunk of criticism aimed at the team. “That was the difference in our season.” “It is nothing more than we just didn’t get it done,” Lakers forward Carmelo Anthony said. In a development that few would have seen coming six months ago, the Lakers were eliminated from the playoff race on Tuesday night after a 121-110 loss to the Phoenix Suns. Westbrook scored 28 points, Davis added 21 and James watched from the bench, nursing a sore ankle that kept him out for a second straight game. Davis has only been available for about half the season, missing time with knee and foot ailments.

The Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated from the play-in tournament, which makes it almost a lock that the Pelicans will get their draft pick.

- #3-6.7% - #2-6.3% - #1-6%

Magic Johnson caused quite the stir earlier this week in an appearance ESPN Get Up! The LA legend, and former Lakers president of basketball operations, ...

Adding a third All-NBA caliber player surely would have done the Lakers some good this year. When DeRozan was in town in L.A., and he basically stuck it to the Lakers. The impression that I got from his camp was that DeRozan felt that the Lakers were in sort of disarray. The coulda-shoulda-woulda zealots came out in force.

It's hard to remember exactly when it sunk in that the Los Angeles Lakers were flawed beyond repair this season. Maybe it was Russell Westbrook opening the ...

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LOS ANGELES: Big changes are likely to be in store for the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason after their hopes of making the NBA playoffs were dashed when ...

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If the Los Angeles Lakers made anything clear at the 2022 trade deadline, it was this: they don't want to do what it will take to fix this.

But if anything was going to motivate the Lakers to look in the mirror and re-evaluate the way they do business, it was going to be missing the playoffs. Any notion that they could carry the same nonchalant attitude that informed their trade deadline into the offseason needed to be erased here and now. No, the Lakers needed to be embarrassed. Those are the only two components of this roster that have earned significant roles next season. After all, those same Suns would have awaited the Lakers in the first round if they'd somehow managed to squeak their way into the playoffs. The Lakers would have lost that series and they would have lost it badly, but just getting there would have given this front office an excuse, a myth of momentum. Sure, their season would have ended the same way, but with just enough oomph to justify further inaction. On Tuesday, the Phoenix Suns ended the Lakers' season for the second year in a row. That rookie is going to be a huge help for James when he arrives a few months before LeBron's 43rd birthday. And their front office wasn't willing to do a thing about it. They were problems that the Lakers hoped would fix themselves. This is the bed you have made.

Anthony Davis, Frank Vogel and Russell Westbrook all have some thoughts on what's next for the Lakers.

Maybe a healthy version of this roster makes the playoffs, but from what we’ve seen this year, it was certainly never competing for a title. But to compete for the playoffs? All indications are that Westbrook likely will be moved this offseason and that the desire to part ways is assumably mutual. That’s worse than the Lakers’ overall net rating of minus-3.1.” But we weren’t able to do that, which makes it tough to be able to compete for a championship when your three best players haven’t logged enough minutes together.” The team having two first-rounders to use in trades this summer (their 2027 and 2029 picks) might make dealing him more possible, but given what Davis himself had to say on Tuesday, the team also may be more willing to have him return than most on the outside expect. Yes, we want to be able to see what that looks like, what that entails over the course of an 82-game season. I think even though we lost games where all of us was on the floor — me, Bron, Russ — I think we’re three great players, but we would have figured it out if we logged more minutes together. That does indeed make it tough to compete for a championship. And that was the difference in the season. So I just hope that we have a chance to be able to do something.” Vogel didn’t “win now.” And while that’s not entirely his fault, he’s also not blameless in it.

A fan-made video appropriately summed up the Los Angeles Lakers' horrendous 2021-22 season.

There are a lot of lowlights from this dismal season in L.A. MORE: After missing playoffs again, has Lakers' investment in LeBron James and Anthony Davis been a bust? The answer: A fan-made video, a mocking "One Shining Moment" collection of not-so-great moments from the Lakers' 2021-22 season, from bad Russell Westbrook shots to Patrick Beverley roasting him and so much more.

It is only the fourth time LeBron James has failed to reach the postseason since entering the league in 2003. . Read more at straitstimes.com.

We brought integrity to the process we just fell short through a disjointed season. "We've been playing for our lives for the last five, six, seven games," Vogel said. We have all put in the work. "There's so many different things that happened but I don't like to point fingers or blame anybody." "We're extremely disappointed," Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. It is only the fourth time since James entered the league in 2003 that the NBA superstar has failed to reach the postseason.

Yes, James, if his sprained ankle is feeling good enough, will likely want to play a couple more games in order to make a serious run at the NBA scoring title.

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Lakers GM Rob Pelinka and advisor Kurt Rambis will face a big challenge to put together a championship roster for next season with their Big Three.

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Instead of contending for the NBA championship, as many expected when the season started, the Lakers will miss the playoffs altogether.

Faceți clic aici pentru a afla mai multe despre partenerii noștri. Dacă faceți clic pe „Acceptați tot”, sunteți de acord că Yahoo și partenerii noștri vor stoca și/sau vor accesa informații pe dispozitivul dvs. Puteți selecta „Administrare setări” pentru a afla mai multe informații și a vă gestiona opțiunile. Vă puteți modifica opțiunile în orice moment, vizitând Controale de confidențialitate. Aflați mai multe despre modul în care utilizăm informațiile dvs.

Lakers GM Rob Pelinka and advisor Kurt Rambis will face a big challenge to put together a championship roster for next season with their Big Three.

“Like I said, when we put this team together, we had championship aspirations, and once again, injuries have gotten in the way of that. “But I think you would love to see, I think the world would love to see, I think we would love to see what this team could be if we were healthy for the full 82. But I truly think that we could have done something special if ‘Bron and myself, and mainly me, were healthy for the entire season.” If that repeats next year, we have the same team, who knows? Yes, we want to be able to see what that looks like, what that entails over the course of an 82-game season. Klay Thompson is averaging 19.3 points and Draymond Green is averaging 7.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game. So, I just hope that we have a chance to be able to do something.” They also have Wenyen Gabriel signed through next season on a two-way contract. In the absence of the injured Stephen Curry (foot), Jordan Poole has been getting it done for the Warriors. Poole is averaging 18.4 points per game, shooting 36.8% from three-point range. Update: The Lakers listed James (left ankle), Davis (right mid-foot sprain) and Westbrook (right shoulder soreness) as questionable. The Lakers have just four players under contract for next season — James ($44.4 million), Davis ($37.9 million), Talen Horton-Tucker ($10 million) and Austin Reaves ($1.5 million). And like I’ve said all season long, you got to play the cards you’re dealt.

A team that started the season with hopes of winning the NBA championship after forming a new 'Big 3' with LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook ...