It’s no secret that, to the current state, the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 2021-22 season is a failure. Although some faint hope remains that things will get better once and if the team gets healthy and at full strength, there are not many chances this campaign will result in a success for the Californian franchise.
Injuries and COVID definitely played a big role in the shortcomings of this team that started the season with great expectations, but also bad fit and an unbalanced construction are to blame.
The Russell Westbrook trade will not go down as one of the greatest moves in the Lakers history and it looks like it created more issues than those it solved. The consequent additions made to fix them did not pan out as expected, resulting in a mess that only LeBron James‘s immense talent is managing to keep barely together.
Defense and carelessness with the ball stand out as the main problems for the purple and gold, while, despite the huge offensive talent collected, they struggle to mesh it into a highly productive offense as expected. The Lakers currently stand 25th in turnovers and 14th in defensive rating, while only 24th in offensive rating.
Rumors (more than rumors, since it was deemed almost a done deal) of a trade with the Sacramento Kings to obtain Buddy Hield on Draft night surfaced before Westbrook’s availability and acquisition at the, apparently, behest of James. The apparently almost completed trade for the Bahamian sharpshooter remains an interesting what-if of what could have happened had they not decided to go down the superstar way, but the trade would have hardly solved the Lakers’ troubles. At the very least, it would not have made them much better than what they are today.
A look into what could have been.
There is another way LA front office could have addressed the offseason and reassessed a team that fell off the playoff the previous season mainly due to injuries. An easier and less expensive way not involving big-time acquisitions and blockbuster trades would have been more beneficial for the roster. Without big revolutions, but just a subtle re-shape, the chemistry and culture of the team would have remained intact, making it a better team than was before and then ended up being.
Let’s discover how!