LeBron James has been out of action for the last 4 weeks now, and yet, the Lakers find themselves well-positioned to make the playoffs now.
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Much of this can be attributed to the work of Rob Pelinka, who made perhaps the best trade of the season. Pelinka managed to unload the monster Russell Westbrook contract in exchange for 3 capable rotation players.
They acquired Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt from the Jazz in addition to D’Angelo Russell. All 3 of these players provide value to the team in their own ways. D’Lo is a capable playmaker, Beasley is a floor spacer and Vanderbilt has been an amazing hustle guy.
The Lakers have sported a 12-6 record since the activation of these 3 players. As a result, they’ve clawed their way to a .500 record for the first time this season. Despite some inconsistent offense from Anthony Davis, their roster depth has served them quite well in this period.
The Lakers are just TWO games back of the No. 4 seed and having home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs! (I can’t believe I’m typing that with eight games left in the season.) They won tonight without LeBron James and D’Angelo Russell. This team can go on a run! pic.twitter.com/MvJrgKHXjq
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) March 25, 2023
Their defense has improved substantially with the addition of Vanderbilt, who’s been exceptional on the boards as well. The Lakers have had the best defensive rating in the league over the last 45 days.
How does the Lakers’ remaining schedule look?
With 8 games left in the regular season, the Lakers are currently 8th in the Conference. They only have 2 games remaining against teams with a record above .500 – the Suns and the Clippers.
They start the remainder of their slate off with back-to-backs against the Chicago Bulls, the first of which is to be played today. The Bulls currently hold a play-in position at 10th in the Eastern Conference.
They also have an easy game against the tanking Houston Rockets coming up. The remainder of their schedule includes 2 games against Utah and another against the Timberwolves.
Both teams are jockeying for play-in positions themselves and will fight the Lakers tooth-and-nail. Minnesota currently holds the tie-breaker against them.
According to Tankathon, the team has the 5th-easiest schedule out of 30 teams for the remainder of the season. The odds definitely seem to favor their playoff chances.
The LeBron James factor
After missing the entire month of March with injuries, James has been upgraded to ‘doubtful’ for their game against Chicago tonight. LeBron will more or less be back in action before the end of the regular season.
Getting The King back would be a humongous boost for the Lakers, who already sport a revitalized look. James would make them fringe title contenders right now, given the lack of a clear favorite in the league.
