The Los Angeles Lakers had young players improve, a change in the front office and found a solid coach. Still, the lottery will determine their success.
When you look at the end of the season results, the Los Angeles Lakers weren’t a success. The Lakers finished 26-56, good for 14th in the Western Conference. They finished last in the league in defense and in the bottom five for the fourth time in four years.
None of their young players have emerged as star players, while the roster and the offseason acquisitions of Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov struggled.
However, when you look closer at Los Angeles’ season, I would argue they had some success that could assist them as they look to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
It starts with coaching. Los Angeles made the offseason move of bringing in Luke Walton to assume the head coaching role. Walton had to deal with an inexperienced roster, but did a fine job of working with the Lakers roster.
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Unlike Bryon Scott, Walton trusted his young players and gave them the ability and confidence to go out and play without worry — something they struggled with the year before.
His biggest success was Julius Randle. Randle entered the season as a double-double machine who didn’t do much else. This season, Randle averaged 13.2 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists. He became a creator in Los Angeles’ offense and even improved on the defensive end.
His DBPM improved from minus-3.6 to an even 0.0. His VORP went from minus-0.9 to 1.1 and he showed the ability to work on the perimeter in spurts.
He’s still not a three-point shooter, nor is he a rim protector, but in his second full season, Randle took a step forward as a player.
We also saw solid play from rookie Brandon Ingram and second-year man D’Angelo Russell. I already wrote in detail about Ingram and Russell and how they had a solid second half.
Russell took off when he moved into the off-ball guard spot, capable of creating and finding space as a shooter. Ingram’s ability to create makes for an interesting player as he gets into his second season.
Russell’s success after the All-Star break was Los Angeles’ most interesting subplot. Averaging 18.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in the final 20 games of the season, Russell thrived as an off-ball wing who can space the floor on a team with several non-shooters.
His biggest issue — defense — still persists off the ball, but the ability to create and shoot alongside another creator is valuable.
Los Angeles Lakers
It also brings up the question: Could the Lakers bring in another point guard? Two of the top three draft prospects — Washington’s Markelle Fultz and UCLA’s Lonzo Ball — play the position and could fit alongside Russell.
There’s also free agency, where someone like Jrue Holiday makes sense as he covers up a ton of Russell’s weaknesses.
Right now, those three players are the key to Los Angeles’ future. There are weaknesses there — none of three have proven to be good on the defensive end — but none of them are over the age of 23 and still have room to grow in their games.
Having your last three lottery picks play well under a new coach is heading in the right direction for any team.
But for Los Angeles, it’s the draft lottery and that pick that will mark this season as a success or a potential disappointment.
Keeping the draft picks gives Los Angeles two first-round picks — one on the lottery and one at the end of the first round. It allows you to maintain the 2019 first-round pick as well. Having that pick allows Los Angeles to add a premier talent at the top of the draft or use in a trade.
Having that late first-round pick allows Los Angeles to grab another potential starter, ideally, someone who can defend.
If they lose the pick, however, it put Los Angeles in a bad spot. You don’t have a top five pick in this draft and you lose your 2019 first-round draft pick to Orlando via the Dwight Howard trade.
You keep your 2018 draft pick, but it puts Los Angeles in a tricky position because the best option from there would be to, once again, tank the season and allow the young guys to continue to develop.
Is that something Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka would accept? Los Angeles could still make a play in free agency, but what move is out there for them to evolve into a playoff team?
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Gordon Hayward is the best non-Golden State Warrior free agent, but is adding Hayward onto this roster making them a playoff team? I doubt it.
And that’s why keeping the pick means so much. It can change the trajectory of the franchise and whether this season is a success. Los Angeles has never missed the playoffs for four straight seasons, let alone a fifth consecutive season.
The Lakers have one spot between them from making that nightmare a reality and we won’t know until May 29.
The Lakers had a decent season, despite missing the playoffs. Randle, Russell, and Ingram had moments that made you believe they could be key cogs in Los Angeles’ next playoff team.
Luke Walton’s arrival gave them a coach who preached the right things and the tension between the front office and ownership was halted.
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Yet, if the Lakers don’t land in the top three of the NBA draft lottery, it will be a tough road ahead as Los Angeles would be out two first-round picks and stuck looking for the necessary pieces to entice a star player to help create the next successful Laker team.