Lakers: Does Santa Have a Gift for This Team?

Does Santa Claus have any gifts for the Lakers this Christmas season?

The Los Angeles Lakers have now played 27 games, essentially one-third of the season’s 82. Their win-loss record, an atrocious 4-23 with a winning percentage of only .148, is the worst in franchise history at this point in a season. At this rate, they’ll win only 12 games.

Is there anything Santa has in his bag for fans to look forward to over the final four months of the season?

Well, to begin with, fans will get their final chances to see Kobe Bryant, one of the league’s greatest all-time players. Bryant, an absolute lock for the Hall of Fame, has been the rare player who is equally proficient at driving to the basket and hitting outside jumpers over his defender.

Although he struggled early in his final season, over the last few games he has played at a much higher level, showing flashes of the old Kobe. This is the way we all want him to go out. Let’s enjoy him while we can, because we will definitely miss him when he’s gone.

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Secondly, fans can watch the continued development of the team’s young players, in particular D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle. Both have shown promise of living up to their hype in some games, but have also each had their share of forgettable ones. The more court time they have, the easier it should be for them to become more consistently excellent. To some extent, this also applies to Jordan Clarkson.

But don’t forget the other young players (as unfortunately head coach Byron Scott often has). Larry Nance Jr. has shown he deserves to stay in the rotation. Anthony Brown finally got a chance to play when Kobe sat out the last game. Hopefully he continues to get playing time so we can all see if he’s someone the team can count on in the future. The same is true of Tarik Black—if Scott ever decides to insert him into games.

Perhaps most importantly there are two dates on the 2016 calendar Lakers fans can look forward to: May 17 (the date of the NBA draft lottery) and June 23(the date of the actual NBA draft). The Lakers retain their pick only if it is among the first three in the lottery. Otherwise, it’s been traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Right now, the Lakers have the second-worst record in the NBA. In the all-important win column, they have three more than Philadelphia, three fewer than the Brooklyn Nets, four fewer than New Orleans Pelicans, and at least seven fewer than any other team.

The lottery is weighted by the team’s position in the standings. Barring an unforeseen winning streak, the Lakers likely won’t catch either the Nets or the Pelicans, and the 76ers probably won’t pass them by either. So chances look reasonably good that the Lakers will finish with the second-worst record. That position would give them about a 56% chance of finishing in the top 3 and keeping their pick.