The Los Angeles Lakers are not a perfect team. That's okay, as there are no perfect teams (although the Oklahoma City Thunder might get close in a few years). What the Lakers are, though, is a very good team, and with some adjustments, they could flirt with being a great team.
1. Avoid the play-in tournament
When each of a team's three stars has battled injury, and one of those stars is 41 years old, avoiding any extra games should be priority No. 1. Of course, the play-in also leaves a team vulnerable to being sent home before the playoffs even begin in earnest, and that would feel like a nightmare outcome in LeBron's (probable) last season in LA.
This is a bit of a Catch-22, though. To avoid the play-in tournament and stay in the top six, the Lakers will have to push hard down the stretch of the season; every game without Austin Reaves, Luka Doncic, or LeBron James will feel like an opportunity for the teams in back of the Lakers to gain some ground.
Is it better to push hard now to avoid the play-in, or conserve enough energy now so the play-in toll feels less severe? You may think differently, but I still lean toward trying for the best seed possible in the regular season and avoiding any potential huge letdowns in the play-in.
2. Keep the defensive momentum going
For the season at large, the Lakers' defense has not been good (No. 23 in the NBA). But over the past 15 games, they've posted the No. 13-ranked defense. They're not the 2004 Pistons, but floating around that mark for the rest of the year feels like a win for a team that has looked completely lost (and uninterested) on that end. Personnel has stayed mostly the same, but effort has increased.
If the offense can stay explosive, and the defense is at least in the top half of the league and not the bottom five, the Lakers' postseason prospects feel much more promising.
3. Find the right balance between the three stars
Of course, on the other end, it all comes down to a balancing act when Reaves, Doncic, and James are all active. When Reaves was sidelined, the Luka / LeBron dynamic mostly worked well, but factoring AR15 back in the mix comes with its own complications.
By the time the playoffs come around, there should be no questions as to how the rotations, point rations, and shot charts shake out for the team's three best players. About a year after the Luka Doncic trade, we still haven't gotten nearly a full season of this big three playing together, and ironing out the kinks over the next few months will be essential.