Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Reasons the trade deadline was not a failure
By Nick Ziegler
– Playoffs still possible
Coming into the season, one of the goals for the Lakers was to make the playoffs. It has been a long rebuild for the Lakers, and the signing of LeBron James resulted in playoff expectations. There hasn’t been playoff basketball in Los Angeles in a long time, and that is something that the franchise wanted to change.
Prior to the injury to James, the Lakers looked like they were well on their way toward that. The Lakers were in the 4th seed in the Western Conference, but things really fell apart quickly after the injury to James and Rajon Rondo on Christmas.
As of now, the Lakers are on the outside looking in on the playoff picture. The Los Angeles Clippers currently have the eighth seed in the Western Conference, but them trading Tobias Harris will likely result in them falling out of the playoff picture this season.
Even though the Clippers are set up nicely for the future, the Lakers could very well hop them in the standings this season. While the Lakers being a seventh or eighth seed in the Western Conference could result in an early from the playoffs, it would give the young core of the Lakers a very valuable experience.