Los Angeles Lakers: 3 goals for the remainder of the season

1. Give young players most of the playing time

When NBA teams go into tank mode, it usually means they’re resting their veterans and playing most of their young players. They do this to measure the talent and potential of their draft picks or players acquired in trades, and to decrease their chances of winning games to increase their lottery odds.

I personally don’t mind when teams make this their intentions late in the season, as long as the organization is on board and the veterans understand what is happening. The Los Angeles Lakers did this a season ago when they owned their draft pick, and probably would do it again this season if they had the rights to it.

But they don’t, and will probably play vets like Isaiah Thomas, Brook Lopez and Corey Brewer reasonable minutes moving forward. This makes sense as the Lakers should try to win as many games as possible — as long as they don’t hinder the development of other players.

IT’s career has been an awesome underdog story, but I want Brandon Ingram to continue having the ball in the fourth quarter. I want to see Josh Hart close out games matching up defensively with the opponent’s top guard. When the Lakers don’t go small, I’d like to see rookie Thomas Bryant log some minutes, and see if his G League success translates to the NBA.

I want to see the Los Angeles Lakers win and be competitive as possible, but not at the risk of seeing players who figure to have roles in the team’s plans for the future.

Next: 2017-18 Week 19 NBA Power Rankings

With 25 games left in the season, we’ll see if the Lakers are able to accomplish these three reasonable goals.