The Los Angeles Lakers got unceremoniously bounced out of the postseason by the Minnesota Timberwolves last night. This season has been a wild ride for the Lakers, who ascended all the way to the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference after trading for Luka Doncic but were made to look old and slow by the younger, more athletic T-Wolves.
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Now that the offseason is here, the Lakers are staring at an uncertain future. They have Luka locked up for next season but need to sign him long-term before his player option comes up in 2026. LeBron James is 40 years old and isn’t getting any younger, and the team has no effective size to speak of, in large part because they traded Anthony Davis away.
The Lakers should be proud of their 50-win regular season, but it looks like they have a long way to go to get to true contender status. There also doesn’t seem to be an easy way to get there, as the Inside the NBA crew discussed after last night’s game.
“They have two of the top main players on their team, but let’s just keep it real,” Shaquille O’Neal said. “They’re not good enough. It’s unfortunate, they’re gonna be like this for a while. They’re not gonna make any moves this summer. You gotta pay two guys $50 million and up, so get used to this, because when you have players of this caliber, it’s championship or bust.”
Shaq is right that the team as currently constructed isn’t good enough, though he’s a little off with his salary numbers. LeBron is actually set to make over $52 million next year, while Luka comes in a hair under $46 million. Close enough.
Can the Lakers close the gap next year, or is Shaq right?
Anybody who watched the Lakers play could spot their deficiencies. Defensively, they’re a mess, with no rim protection and multiple players in the starting lineup (Luka and Austin Reaves) who can’t stop anybody. Charles Barkley cast that into hilarious relief when he said, “Luka can’t guard a chair,” though he wasn’t being totally fair when he said LeBron doesn’t play defense anymore.
LeBron was actually one of the few defensive bright spots for the Lakers in this series, with multiple steals in four out of the five games and multiple blocks in three. For much of this year, in fact, he’s been brought in on the defensive end, but the Lakers as a whole still need much more.
The Inside the NBA crew talked about the trade for Mark Williams that fell through at the deadline, though they disagreed on whether having the young center would have made a difference. Kenny Smith thought it would, especially since Rudy Gobert had the game of his life last night while shooting and rebounding over guys half a foot shorter than him.
The Lakers ended up rescinding that trade after Williams failed his physical, but if they could have pulled it off, then they should be able to make a similar move this offseason.
LA definitely needs more size, because LeBron is taking a beating playing as a power forward and even a small-ball center at times. He’s getting too old for all of that, and this series proved that Jaxson Hayes just isn’t up to the task.
The Lakers may need to consider trading away Austin Reaves this offseason, even though the fourth-year guard has continually improved in his time in the league. Reaves brings a lot to the table offensively, but defensively, he’s another weak link for JJ Redick to plan around.
It’s impossible to win consistently in the NBA without the ability to get stops, and if the Lakers want to prove Shaq wrong, they need to beef up the defensive end.
