Ever since the Los Angeles Lakers’ offseason concluded with Russell Westbrook and both their tradeable first-round draft picks still in tow, the team has been stuck in something of a holding pattern. Structural change felt inevitable once it became clear early last season that the Westbrook acquisition was a flop, but there hasn’t been a straightforward blueprint laying out the shape that change should take.
Conventional wisdom holds that when you employ LeBron James and Anthony Davis, you expend every available resource to give yourself the best chance to win in the present. But the calculus was more complicated for these Lakers, coming off a 33-win season, with James in a gentle decline phase entering his age-38 season and Davis struggling to stay on the floor.
Were they good enough to push all their remaining chips in for immediate upgrades? Would it be wiser to take a more patient approach, swallowing some short-term pain while waiting for Westbrook’s contract to come off the books and another first-rounder to come into play? Would a more conservative play for marginal improvement bring the best of both worlds, or the worst?
The picture got even murkier when L.A. started the season 2-10, as the whole team clanked through an epic shooting funk and James missed time with an adductor injury. There was even talk (though entirely speculative) of another potential path, wherein the Lakers would go the opposite direction and trade their superstars to restock their long-term assets. But then they pulled themselves together and rattled off eight wins in their next 10 games to re-enter the fringes of Western Conference relevancy. They’ve since lost two straight, but both came without Davis and one came without James, as well.
The Lakers now sit 10-14, with two games and three teams separating them from a play-in spot. That’s far from inspiring, but signs of life abound. They’ve collectively shaken out of their 3-point shooting coma (it’s now more of a light slumber), and their offensive identity has coalesced around pace and relentless rim pressure. When they’ve been healthy, their defense has been connected and disciplined, forcing a boatload of mid-range shots and sending opponents to the free-throw line at the league’s lowest rate.
Westbrook has helped stabilize both the starting lineup and the second unit by finally accepting a move to the bench. Patrick Beverley, despite being a complete disaster on offense so far, has fortified the point-of-attack defense. So has Troy Brown Jr., whose smart cutting has also provided some handy offensive wheel grease. Lonnie Walker has been a whirling dervish in transition and has harnessed his energy in the half court with reliable spot-up shooting, explosive closeout attacks, and acrobatic finishes. Austin Reaves has built on last season’s unexpected rookie contributions, blossoming into an invaluable offensive connector and perimeter defender.
Meanwhile, the two superstars at the top of the roster have held up their end of the bargain. James isn’t the all-consuming two-way force he once was, but he’s still an elite offensive orchestrator capable of erasing space with his defensive help rotations when he decides to empty the tank every third game. After a rough start to the season, he’s averaged 27.1 points on 58.9% true shooting since returning from a five-game absence, though that uptick in efficiency has been powered by unsustainably hot 3-point shooting (over 45% on nearly eight threes a game). The most important development, as it was always going to be, has been the incredible resurgence of a healthy Davis.