The Los Angeles Lakers have gotten off to a 6-2 start. Still, Frank Vogel’s rotations make little sense.
The Los Angeles Lakers are in first place in the western conference, plus they’re ranked third in defensive rating and sixth in offensive rating. Everything is perfect in Tinseltown, right?
Not exactly. Alarm bells are ringing underneath the Lakers’ impressive team statistics.
The Purple and Gold started the 2021 season with one of the easiest schedules in the NBA, sending all the conspiracy theorists into an uproar. The Lakers had the shortest offseason in the NBA’s history, so perhaps Adam Silver gifted the Lakers with a blissfully smooth starting slate of games to say sorry to the Champs.
The Lakers have only played one game against a team with a .500 record or better—The Clippers (5-3) — and they lost by seven points.
The Lakers’ six wins have come against three teams that have no shot at making the playoffs (Grizzlies, Spurs, and Timberwolves) and one organization (Mavericks) that has been reeling without their starting center, Kristaps Porzingis.
The Lakers have beaten up on the NBA dregs. However, with games against Houston, New Orleans, Golden State, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia coming up in January, their schedule will get much more formidable.
Frank Vogel should alter his rotations, or the Lakers could rack up losses as the 2021 season moves from winter into spring. Let’s take a look at the rotations that Vogel has deployed in 2020.