Initial Impressions Of The New-Look Los Angeles Lakers

Although it is never safe to over assume things based on the NBA Preseason, it’s hard to deny that the early iterations of the new look Los Angeles Lakers look troublesome to say the least.

The Lakers are 0-5 in the preseason with only one game left against the Sacramento Kings to show any signs of potential optimism before next week’s season opener against the Golden State Warriors.

For those who view the 0-5 preseason record as unimportant, that is definitely a fair assessment. But what should concern Lakers fans are some of the glaring factors that have led to this point. Factors that could play a significant role on their regular season success and impact their potential as championship contenders.

Let’s take a look at five glaring early preseason blunders and analyze the potential long-term effects they could have on Los Angeles this season.

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1. Already Catching the Injury Bug

Let’s start with something that is not necessarily in the Lakers’ control but will be an important factor in the early portion of the season. As a team that already is not the deepest squad in terms of talented depth, things are already not looking good in terms of the guys they currently have unavailable.

Backup point guard Kendrick Nunn recently missed the Lakers’ preseason game due to a right ankle sprain. At shooting guard, they are decimated as Wayne Ellington (left hamstring soreness), Malik Monk (groin) and Talen Horton-Tucker (thumb) are all out. Then to round things out, small forward Trevor Ariza is also out due to an ankle injury.

Now in terms of Nunn, Ellington, and Monk, they are all optimistically on track to be ready for the start of the season. But in terms of Horton-Tucker and Ariza, the Lakers will have to wait a little while before getting them back on the court.

Horton-Tucker recently underwent successful surgery on his thumb that will put him out for at least four weeks before evaluation with potential to miss more time. Ariza got surgery done last week on his ankle and will be out for at least eight weeks.

So, in short, they have three players limping into the season and two of their best defenders will be missing at least a month. Even with their three superstars, they will start the early portion of the season with a light and injury riddled bench.

Continuity was already going to be difficult to establish for a completely new roster, but this surely does not help them with this endeavor.

2. Who Is Playing Defense On This Team?

One staple of the Los Angeles Lakers over the last two seasons is defense. Since coach Frank Vogel took over in 2019, the Lakers have been a top-5 defensive team.

In the 2019-20 season where they won the championship, this team was 4^th in opponents points per game (107.6) and 3^rd in defensive rating (106.3). Even in a down year last season, they were 2^nd in opponents points per game (106.8) and 1^st in defensive rating (107.1).

These former Lakers defenses were of course anchored by Anthony Davis. But he also got a lot of assistance from solid point of attack defenders like Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Alex Caruso who are all on new teams.

Now they are going to be relying on guys who are not well-known for their defensive prowess like Kent Bazemore, Carmelo Anthony, and Russell Westbrook to commit more effort on that side of the floor. Just seems like a tough ask for coach Vogel as he is going to have to implement a defensive scheme similar to the Utah Jazz’s where Anthony Davis is the primary centerpiece of the defense.

Now maximizing the skillset of your best defender is not a crime, but the difference is that unlike Rudy Gobert, Davis is asked to do much more on the offensive end. Asking Anthony Davis to have that much responsibility on both ends of the floor could brew a tough dilemma ahead and wear him down. This does now help the Lakers’ championship agenda whatsoever.

3. The Russell Westbrook Conundrum

Now we get to the real elephant in the room being the acquisition of All-Star guard and former league MVP Russell Westbrook. As a guy who is already viewed as an un-ideal fit next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the preseason thus far has only further emphasized that point.

Through three games, Westbrook is shooting 7-of-28 from the floor (25%), has 20 total turnovers and has an on/off the floor plus-minus of -27. In the Lakers’ last preseason game against the Golden State Warriors, we finally got to see the Big 3 of James, Davis, and Westbrook together and it was not a pretty sight.

Despite the trifecta combining for 47 points, and 22 rebounds, they also combined for 11 turnovers in 30 minutes or less of action. LeBron James led the charge in that category with six turnovers all in the first half and was on track to break Jason Kidd’s record of 14 turnovers in a game had he played his typical minutes load. But of course, right behind him was Russell Westbrook.

Westbrook finished the game with ten points, ten rebounds, six assists, five turnovers and had a plus-minus of -5. Did I mention that this all happened as they went on to lose 111-99 in a game where neither Stephen Curry nor Draymond Green played a single minute?

Now regarding Westbrook, you could chuck this up to him simply being his normal high energy self, combined with his ambition to put on for the city of Los Angeles. I mean of all the guys on the Lakers, Westbrook is the one guy who has a true Los Angeles connection and that can sometimes come with a little bit of self-imposed pressure.

But regardless of the reasoning, he is going to have to slow things down if he wants to properly fit in as the missing puzzle piece for the Lakers.

Chemistry is going to be the word of the season for the Lakers this season and Russell Westbrook is the primary swing player who could determine whether this team is a real title contender in the West or if they will once again be knocking on the door of the Play-In tournament.

4. It’s AD’s Team Now…Which Could Be Troublesome

Now don’t get me wrong, Anthony Davis is a legitimate All-Star and is an MVP caliber player during any given season. The only problem is that this season the Lakers may actually need him to be a Top-5 MVP candidate to keep them afloat during the regular season.

Going back to my third factor focusing on the Lakers’ defense, Davis right now looks like the end all be all on that side of the floor and I think he has already taken notice of that.

The guy was already a legit 6-foot-11 and weighed in around 250 pounds last season, but now he has a chiseled and imposing frame that truly maximizes his physical stature. This is a primary indicator that Davis prepared his body in the offseason to play more minutes at Center, which he does not favor but has helped produce the most optimal lineups for the Lakers in the past.

With LeBron James being nearly 37 years old entering year 19, it is about that time for Davis to take the mantle as Los Angeles’ lead guy. Unfortunately for him, that responsibility comes with significant weight behind it which creates a not-so-ideal situation for Davis who some have nicknamed “Street Clothes” for his lack of durability.

As a guy who tends to miss at least 15 games with the possibility of more in the latter portion of the season, it’s hard to truly trust a guy with the responsibility of leading this team when his availability is always in question.

Now hopefully for Lakers fans his newly established physique will help him endure the bumps and bruises of an 82-game schedule but with Davis you just never know.

After posting career-lows in rebounds and blocks, the hope is that Davis will bounce back in a big way to lead the purple and gold back to the promised land. Whether or not he can rise to the occasion will be an ongoing question throughout the season.

5. How Serious Are the Lakers Going to Take the Regular Season?

This factor may be the least important in terms of performance in the Playoffs, but it could impact their path through the Playoffs.

With older players across the lineup from LeBron James to Rajon Rondo to Carmelo Anthony, this surely looks like a team that will look to navigate cautiously throughout the regular season.

Sitting players on back to backs. Potential minutes restrictions on guys like James and Anthony Davis who have both gone down with significant injury in their short tenure together as a duo. There is even the possibility that they may reign Russell Westbrook in a little bit as a guy who averages nearly 35 minutes a game and would play all 48 if you let him.

With all of this in mind, there surely is the possibility that this team will not have their eyes on homecourt advantage and instead will primarily be concerned about not falling below the 6^th seed. But this is a team that does not look like they will be coming into the regular season firing on all cylinders and it could take them a few months before everything clicks.

Considering the Western Conference is already a dog fight and now the Eastern Conference is equally as competitive, there will be no easy nights for any team this season from Game 1 to Game 82.

Without a hot start to kick off the season, there is a high possibility that this team could be staring at Play-In tournament range by the All-Star break and will have to go all in during the second half of the season to make a real push for the Playoffs.

Only issue is that that was the kind of the strategy last season and both James and Davis ended up going down with significant injuries. Not to mention, they were a possession or two away from falling to Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors in the Play-In tournament.

To make a long story short: The Lakers have their work cut out for them between their lack of depth, desperate need to establish chemistry and lack of a true defensive identity.

For Lakers optimists, it is hard to argue that the Lakers will always be title contenders as long as they have LeBron James and Anthony Davis. But it is also hard to refute that the Lakers have a lot of questionable holes to patch up along the roster if they want to truly be considered a threat to make it out of the West.