0-4: The Los Angeles Lakers record. Man, that’s rough. The easy, glaring question is why, and what comes after that is who does the blame fall on? It’s simply lazy analysis to point out a single individual on the Lakers and say this start is on him. Instead, this start is because of poor roster construction and play to begin the season.
The most glaring, obvious stat to look at for the Lakers start is their 3PT%. Entering Thursday’s games, the Lakers had the worst 3PT% in the league by far. Their 22.3% trailed the Thunder’s 29th 27.3% (for what it’s worth, the Thunder were last in 3PT% last season with a 32.3%). Looking at this roster, it’s really no surprise that this team finds themselves last in the league.
The current shooting percentages of these players will absolutely increase (regression to the mean), as they are too low. But that doesn’t mean that the shooting numbers of this team will jump into the top 20; expect them to stay low. There are no players who are considered ‘shooters’.
LeBron James won’t continue to shoot 25.7% from three. Anthony Davis won’t continue to shoot 18.2%. The same goes for Lonnie Walker at 17.4%, Patrick Beverley at 18.8%, Russell Westbrook at 8.3%, Troy Brown at 0%, Kendrick Nunn at 23.5%, and more. I mean, these numbers are terrible and bound to increase, but that doesn’t mean they’ll jump to elite - or even good - numbers.
Beyond the shooting of this team, the talent straight up is not great. We know what LeBron James is, and his 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists per game average is ludicrous for someone at his age. Anthony Davis, when healthy (and this is a big when), is a special talent. Outside of that, it’s bleak for this Lakers roster. Westbrook, a former MVP, is overhated and still talented, but his performance through the first four games is inexcusable and straight up bad. The roster lacks depth in a gruesome way. With all due respect to Lonnie Walker (an underrated, young player in the league), if he’s averaging 32 minutes per game for you, you’re probably not a contender.
The obvious idea to improve this team is to flip Russell Westbrook for shooters. It’s been an idea for over a year to this point. The name constantly linked to the Lakers has been Buddy Hield (who has been an absolute flamethrower so far this season: 42.2 3PT% on 9 3PA) with a potential package of Myles Turner if the Lakers send future 1st round picks. The Lakers seem reluctant, but they shouldn’t be. LeBron James isn’t getting any younger, and the team needs to capitalize on his talent now, regardless of who they trade.
Albeit a small sample, the starting lineup of Westbrook, Beverley, Walker, James, and Davis has been a -9.9 per 100 possessions. This is bad. And truthfully, they probably do not have a better lineup to go to. Alarm bells should be ringing in LA; if this is the best lineup to trot out there, there are some serious issues. Moves need to be made because, by the looks of it, the Lakers could find themselves battling for a play-in spot for the second consecutive season.
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Charlie Spungin , NBA Analyst