The Los Angeles Lakers have started the season with an 0-3 record and many fans are rightfully outraged. Los Angeles is coming off of one of the worst seasons in franchise history and after months of speculation and small moves, nothing has changed.
While the elephant in the room might be Russell Westbrook and a potential trade, the team on the court has to turn it around before it is too late. A Westbrook trade won’t matter if this team stinks and digs itself into a huge hole to start the season.
If the Lakers are going to get out of this hole they are going to need several players to step up and actually play how they are capable of playing.
Here are 3 Lakers who simply have to play better moving forward:
1. Kendrick Nunn
This one is particularly frustrating because Kendrick Nunn was so good in the preseason. Nunn was arguably the Lakers’ best player in the preseason as he was knocking down shots at an absurd rate and looked ready to be the team’s third scorer this season.
That great preseason now looks like it was simply a hot streak and not an indication of how Nunn would play this season. Nunn has been extremely disappointing thus far this season offensively and as an under-sized guard who can’t defend much, that tanks his value as a player.
We all know that Nunn is capable of playing better basketball. He showed it in the preseason and he showed it in Miami before he joined the Lakers. Los Angeles just has to hope that this is a cold start to the season and not a sign that his injury problems from last year are going to have a lasting effect.