1. The Lakers don’t reach the NBA Finals
There are some tough potential second-round matchups in Utah and Oklahoma City who each boast terrorizing defenses to make LeBron and Co. life incredibly difficult. Even if all the right things happen, and should they beat either of these teams, they’ll still likely have to go up against absolute juggernauts in Golden State or Houston in the WCF.
Our young guys simply aren’t ready for playoff basketball, which is fine; growing pains are to be expected from a team this inexperienced. We saw the same thing happen to Philadelphia last year, where they flamed out against a more experienced team in Boston.
Experience trumps everything when it comes to playoff basketball, and so many of the Lakers key players have 0 playoff experience. We can’t realistically expect guys like Lance Stephenson, Rajon Rondo, and JaVale McGee to lead us to the promised land, even with LeBron at the helm.
LeBron is good enough to get this team to at least the 2nd Round in this bloodbath of a Western Conference just by sheer will, but smart defenses like Utah and OKC will find a way to shut LeBron down and force our young guys to make plays.
It will truly come down to ‘make or miss’ games, and I just don’t think guys like Ball, Kuzma, Ingram and Hart are quite ready to handle the pressure.