4 players from the 2020 Lakers we wish were still on the team
By Jason Reed
It has been only 16 months since the Los Angeles Lakers hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy as champions of the world. While it has been less than a year and a half, so much has happened with the Lakers since then that it feels like a distant memory.
After winning the title, the team seemingly had a fantastic offseason in which they improved the roster from the year before. However, that year’s team ultimately fell short as Anthony Davis could not escape the injury bug.
The front office let that first-round disappointment convince them of making a silly trade for Russell Westbrook that had a massive domino effect on the rest of the roster. Now, the Lakers have a better chance of missing the playoffs than winning the NBA title.
Only five players remain from the 2020 champion Lakers.
LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Avery Bradley (who did not travel with the team to Orlando), Talen Horton Tucker (who played a grand total of 81 minutes with 17 playoff minutes) and Dwight Howard (who left the team and came back) are the only players from the 2020 team that are on this roster.
Rob Pelinka tried to recapture some of that magic by bringing back Howard, Bradley and Rajon Rondo but it has not worked. The Lakers are missing the key pieces of that championship team and quite frankly, if they held on to certain players then perhaps this year’s team would be a title contender.
The players that the Lakers are missing could easily still be on the team as well. Let’s dive into the four players from the 2020 Lakers that we wish were still on the team.