Bleacher Report recently listed the best-and worst-case scenarios for every team in the NBA. What is the worst-case scenario for the Los Angeles Lakers?
After a busy offseason, there is a lot of optimism surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers. For the past five years, the Lakers have been unable to reach the playoffs, which is a long drought for the storied franchise.
With the addition of LeBron James, the hope is that the Lakers not only snap that drought, but they make some noise come playoff time. With a talented young core and the best player in the world, the Lakers are certainly a team with a lot of upside depending on how that young core develops.
Recently, Bleacher Report listed the worst-case scenario this season for the Lakers. Here’s what they had to say.
"James looks like he doesn’t have any more help with the Los Angeles Lakers—and might have less—than he did last season. The offense can’t compensate for the lack of outside shooting. The defense dips from the top half to the bottom third.More concerning, though, is the damage done to L.A.’s recruiting pitch to 2019’s top free agents.The youngsters respond poorly to the pressure of playing alongside James, and Wagner barely makes it off the bench. Walton’s coaching acumen is questioned during every skid, of which there are many. James loses not just his Finals streak (eight straight) but also misses the playoffs for the first time since 2005."
Even though things look promising on paper for the Lakers, things can always go wrong. With so much change this offseason, the Lakers might not gel like the franchise hopes, and that can spell doom in the Western Conference.
While James has an impressive streak of reaching the playoffs and the NBA Finals, that has all happened in the Eastern Conference. In the loaded Western Conference, James and the Lakers will likely have to win in the upper-40s to reach the playoffs.
Missing the playoffs this season with James would certainly be a worst-case scenario for the Lakers, as it could have an impact on them beyond just this season. With the cap space necessary to get another max player, the Lakers missing the playoffs might scare potential free agents away.
With this being the worst-case scenario, the Lakers in reality should be able to reach the playoffs this season. Barring an injury to James, he and the young core will be enough to give the Lakers a shot to be a Top-5 team in the Western Conference.