The trade deadline just passed, and the All-Star Game is just a few days away, making it the perfect time to sit back and assess which teams look like they have what it takes to make a postseason run. Everybody has played over 50 games by now, and though the Lakers are tied for fourth in the West at 32-19, their repeated failures against top contenders has most people pessimistic about their chances this year.
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That includes LeBron James, who said after last night’s home loss to the Thunder that OKC’s depth to maintain excellence through all 48 minutes ended up being the difference.
L.A. actually held a lead in the fourth quarter of last night’s game, thanks in large part to LeBron, who finished with 22 and 10, and Austin Reaves, who came off the bench and sliced up OKC’s normally stingy defense at times to finish with 16 points. Marcus Smart also contributed in a big way, with 19 points on 4-7 shooting from 3.
Still, it wasn’t enough, and the Lakers once again lost to a top team. Before anyone makes the excuse that Luka Doncic was again out with a hamstring injury, keep in mind that reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was also nowhere to be found as he continues to recover from an abdominal injury.
On this morning’s episode of Get Up, Kendrick Perkins and Monica McNutt called out the Lakers for not acting like a serious contender. “I agree with LeBron,” Perkins said.
“Look, to be honest with you, the Lakers haven’t built out a championship-caliber roster since 2020. And they told you everything they needed to tell us when they made a trade and went and got Luke Kennard, that their focus wasn’t there as far as winning a championship,” he elaborated.
The Lakers made a cannonball-level splash at last year’s trade deadline when they acquired Luka Doncic. And though it would have been impossible to match the seismic impact of that move, most around the league expected them to be aggressive in what may be LeBron’s final year with the team.
In the end, though the roster looks largely the same, with the only real addition being Kennard, who is little more than another shooter off the bench.
If the Lakers were really interested in trying to chase another championship, Perkins suggested, “They would have went and got high-motor guys, they woulda went and got defenders, they woulda tried to go get a big man that could actually anchor the middle and do what’s needed to be done … Offense will win you games, but defense will win you championships.”
Like many players on the Lakers roster, Kennard has little to no defensive reputation. Against a team that can defend like OKC, there’s just no way to win unless you too can defend at a high level. Take the Spurs as a prime example. San Antonio is 4-1 against the defending champs this year because Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and company are invested in making you miserable all game long.
McNutt was just as blunt about the Lakers when she got a turn to speak. “It’s the Lakers, so we’ll continue to discuss them,” she said, “but this is not a contender … I think when it comes down to it, as you look at the Western Conference — size, depth and defensive constitution — it’s just not there in terms of being able to come out of the Western Conference.”
McNutt believed that the Lakers could build around Doncic in the future to put a championship-level team out there, but Perk wasn’t as optimistic. He questioned whether the Lakers could compete on the biggest stage with Luka and Reaves as their centerpieces, two players with negative defensive reputations.
Perk praised Reaves as one of the game’s rising stars, but said, “You can’t have two guys on the floor at the same time that’s gonna be eating up the majority of your salary, getting picked on defensively. That’s just not gonna cut it.”
The Lakers have had defensive issues since even before Luka came to town, but it’s imperative going forward that they find the right players to pair with him. Reaves is due for a big payday this summer, and LeBron may or may not be back.
L.A.’s front office will have some big decisions on its hands if they want to get back to the top of the league, but for now, LeBron, Perk and McNutt are right that this isn’t a championship team.
