After 54 games this season, the Lakers have a record of 26-28. This season, in most people’s eyes, has been an underperformance considering the pieces they have on their roster. They have been missing players all season, with Kendrick Nunn not playing all season due to a knee injury. Trevor Ariza has only played 16 games due to ankle surgery, and Anthony Davis, a superstar on the team, has missed significant time due to an MCL sprain. Lebron has missed 17 games with plenty of different injuries. They haven’t been able to get a rhythm going with people in and out of the lineup.
That's not the only reason the Lakers’ season has been somewhat of a disappointment. The Lakers turn the ball over too much; they are top-5 in turnovers this season at around 15 per game. Their defense is also very bad, especially considering they have been 1st in defense the last two seasons. They are currently 18th but have been missing their best rim protector for nearly half the season.
Most people put a lot of the blame on their point guard, Russell Westbrook. He is the main reason for the turnover problem. His play is inconsistent, and he is inefficient from every part of the field. In his last five games he has had one twenty-point game, three games at 10 points or below, and a 17-point game. Just one game before that he had 35 points. There have been rumors about trading him with the trade deadline approaching, but no trade happened because the pieces they would have to provide for the trade are not nearly worth as much as Russell Westbrook, an all-star having a bad season.
Their effort on defense is awful, especially after turnovers. The team doesn’t communicate, and this causes confusion and leaves people wide open. They also give people easy baskets, hoping to score on the other end. Russell Westbrook didn’t play on February 9th because of a back injury, the first time he has missed a game all season. Most fans believe the Lakers sat him down to see how they would play without him on the court. After the Bucks game, Russell expressed his frustration with the coaching. In the last few games they have decided to remove him from the closing line-up. Frank Vogel says he puts in the lineup he thinks will win, but Russell Westbrook says, “I earned the right to be in closing lineups.” Frank Vogel responded to the press, stating that Russ remains a part of closing lineups but sometimes the game determines otherwise.
The trade deadline has now passed, the Lakers could have possibly moved Dwight Howard, Talen Horton-Tucker, Deandre Jordan, Russell Westbrook, Kent Bazemore and Kendrick Nunn. Unfortunately they kept the same roster that hasn’t worked all season and are currently waiting on the buyout market. The buyout market won’t have any big names, so the pieces they could possibly get won’t make much impact. What the Lakers could do to become a better team starts with effort and communication. They are an old team with plenty of mileage, but if they don’t pick up their defense, they won’t get any better. They have to become better at free-throw shooting, and turnovers have to be minimized and slow down the game and improving communication can fix that.