The Los Angeles Lakers are projected to improve in the 2017-18 season, but is it enough to make the postseason?
The Los Angeles Lakers have had a pretty productive offseason. It is the first one under the leadership of Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka and they have done rather well.
Johnson took over as the President of Basketball Operations days before the NBA Trade Deadline in February. He made the objective clear; he wanted the Lakers to get younger and clear as much cap space as possible.
Pelinka was eventually brought on as general manager and has stuck to that plan. The whole offseason for the Lakers was about clearing more cap space for 2018 and making sure to not use it up. The Lakers stuck to their guns and it ended up working out in their favor.
As a result, they upgraded the roster but without making too many sacrifices. The only real sacrifice they made was trading away D’Angelo Russell, who was the No. 2 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. He was sent to the Brooklyn Nets along with Timofey Mozgov.
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Trading Russell couldn’t have been easy, but it made sense. Not only did the Lakers clear a ton of cap moving Mozgov, the Lakers had a replacement at point guard already in 2017 NBA Draft No. 2 pick, Lonzo Ball.
In addition to Ball, the Lakers landed three more prospects from this year’s draft class. With the 27th pick, the Lakers selected Utah power forward, Kyle Kuzma. At No. 30, the Lakers landed Villanova shooting guard, Josh Hart. Last, but not least, with the No 42 pick, the Lakers selected Indiana center, Thomas Bryant.
In free agency, the Lakers were rather quiet. Their biggest move was signing shooting guard, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The meeting was actually initiated by Caldwell-Pope’s agent, Rich Paul, reportedly. The Lakers and Caldwell-Pope agreed to a one-year, $18 million balloon contract. It was the type of contract the Lakers tried to offer to other players, namely George Hill and Dion Waiters, but both agreed to long-term deals elsewhere.
To add Caldwell-Pope, the Lakers had to waive fan favorite David Nwaba, who was claimed by the Chicago Bulls. The Lakers also re-signed point guard Tyler Ennis, who should help mentor Ball and provide minutes as the backup point guard. The only other signing the Lakers made was agreeing to a two-way deal with Alex Caruso, who played well during Summer League.
The Lakers had a decent amount of roster overhaul, but they certainly upgraded the roster. ESPN gave the Lakers a grade of A- for the offseason, which is very strong. Will the additions help improve the Lakers outlook for the 2017-18 season? The answer is yes.
ESPN’s Kevin Pelton made projections for the season using ESPN’s real plus-minus, also known as RPM. He also used his own SCHOENE projections. So how did the Lakers fare? They improved, but not enough to make the postseason.
Pelton’s projections have the Lakers winning 33 games, which would be a solid improvement over the 26 that they had last season. Here is what Pelton had to say about the projection.
"Baby steps for the Lakers, as they move back toward competitiveness after the worst four-year stretch in franchise history. With the additions of No. 2 pick Lonzo Ball, guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and center Brook Lopez, RPM projects the Lakers to improve nearly to league average on offense. They still look like one of the NBA’s worst defenses (28th)."
Those 33 wins would put the Lakers in 13th place in the Western Conference ahead of only the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings. While that may disappoint some people, it would actually put the Lakers right around the 10th spot in the NBA Draft Lottery in 2018.
Had the Lakers been in the Eastern Conference, they would actually be competing for a playoff spot. Based on Pelton’s projections, the Detroit Pistons are the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference with a projected 35.1 wins. The Philadelphia 76ers are ninth with 33.2 wins. The Lakers would slide in right after that, ahead of the Orlando Magic, who are projected to win 32.2.
While the Lakers are still not projected to sneak into the postseason, they are on the right path. If they are able to execute their plan and add at least one, if not two max players next offseason, they should be right in the thick of the playoff race by the 2018-19 season. Add that max player and another year of experience for youngsters such as Ball, Brandon Ingram, Larry Nance Jr., and Ivica Zubac and the projections will improve.
Next: 10 Greatest Free Agent Signings In Lakers History
This is an exciting time to be a Lakers fan. While there will probably be more losing than winning this upcoming season, there is definitely an air of excitement around the organization that is on the path to success.