– Will help improve draft position
With James either sitting or being limited, the Lakers aren’t going to win too many more games. This is a team that has simply not played well with James, and they won’t play better without him. While some of the young players might play hard when given the chance as we saw against the Denver Nuggets, the skill isn’t going to be there to get many wins.
Now that the Lakers are basically done in terms of making the playoffs, the focus should turn to get a better draft pick. Winning games really does the Lakers no good now, as they do have their first round pick this season, and can move up in the draft lottery.
While getting the No.1 pick is unlikely for the Lakers, they can certainly get a Top-10 pick and improve their odds for an even better one. Even though tanking is frowned up by some, the Lakers can get a valuable asset by losing more games.
Not having James in the lineup will certainly help the Lakers when it comes to tanking for a better pick. While seeing James out of the lineup might bother some people, it is the smart thing for him and the Lakers.