Los Angeles Lakers: Plan of patience getting tested

Undergoing their worst stretch of the season, the Los Angeles Lakers will have their patience tested before the 2019 NBA Trade Deadline.

When the Los Angeles Lakers signed LeBron James, the immediate construction of a super-team seemed bound to happen. This is what took place when he moved to the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers, but LeBron stated he trusted the Lakers front office and was patient with their plan for building a contending team. Staying patient and sticking to a plan doesn’t mean that plan won’t get tested.

The Lakers are 5-10 in their last 15 games. Yes, all but one of the games have been played without LeBron and Rajon Rondo, but the manner in which they’ve lost games is alarming. Five of the losses were by double-digits and only one of the losses was by one possession. They have some impressive wins, and even competitive losses, but falling to the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks at home is awful.

The Lake Show are currently 1.5 games back of the final playoff seed in the Western Conference and is falling further down the standings. The Lakers are sandwiched in the standings by teams ahead of them slowly regressing, and young teams below them starting to make moves up the ladder. Another run of consecutive losses and the Lakers could be in 11th in the West in no time.

LeBron returning will obviously provide more than a jolt of energy to the team, but we’re not sure when that will happen. He’s been listed as day-to-day since the initial injury diagnosis and still hasn’t practiced with full contact. The Lakers won’t be too far behind to make a run at the playoffs when he’s back, but will they remain patient and keep the roster intact?

The Lakers were fine with their young core because they expected them to continue their progression and improve, but that has stagnated. Kyle Kuzma is averaging three more points from last season and taking two full shots more per game, but his 3-point percentage has plummeted from a serviceable 36.6 percent to 30.3 percent. Kuz is solid, but hasn’t shown any new wrinkles to his game.

The same can be said for Brandon Ingram in terms of staying the same, to the point where his stat line from last seasonis nearly identical to this season. The adjustment period next to LeBron hasn’t been smooth and it’s tough to nail down the role he’ll play moving forward in terms of running the second unit to maximize the ball in his hands, or playing off-ball with LBJ.

Lonzo Ball was turning the corner before his left ankle was sprained, but even Zo needs to develop consistency. His shooting percentages from the field have increased and his defense is exceptional, yet he isn’t aggressive enough. The more confidence he gains in his shot and ability to get to the rim, the better Lonzo and the Lakers will be as a team.

Josh Hart has been wildly inconsistent as well, so much so that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope supplanted him in the starting lineup recently. These ebbs and flows come with being a young player in the NBA, but some improvements in consistency should be expected from year one to year two.

The patience aspect revolves around these four players. They are considered the future of the Purple and Gold in a post-LeBron world and are already revered by the Lakers faithful. But it’s tough not to wonder if the patience would still be there if a trade to improve their immediate prospects were on the table somewhere.

Who knows if some concoction of Ingram, Kuzma, Hart and some first round picks would have landed Kawhi Leonard, but in retrospect, would the Lakers have pursued that route more if they knew the youngsters’ progression would stall? Hindsight is always tough to judge, but say Bradley Beal was available for that package. Would the Lakers make that move?

The patient plan for the season could be for the roster, but is head coach Luke Walton in trouble? Has the team started running plays to counteract missing LeBron and Rondo? Are the deployed lineups putting every player in the best position to succeed? These are serious questions to be asked, although it’s tough to imagine a world where they move on from Walton because of a LeBron-less rough patch.

The Los Angeles Lakers probably will be forced to maintain their patience because of the lack of a market to improve their roster. Tanking teams don’t have great players to trade for and the ones that are available may require parting with one of their core four young players.

Marc Gasol could be had, but does he fit their up-tempo style of play? And is 1-2 years of Gasol worth offloading Hart and/or Kuzma? That certainly helps them for this season, but Gasol has a player option for $25.6 million next season that could hamper their cap space for their pursuit of other free agents.

Role players are there throughout the NBA, but the Lakers are fine in that department. Front offices of teams in playoff races are always trying to improve their roster around the trade deadline, yet there’s not really a path to improve Los Angeles’ roster.

Patience was preached in the offseason, and the two weeks leading up to the Feb. 7 trade deadline will be the biggest test of said patience. Depending on how you look at it, the Los Angeles Lakers may be forced into patience with the market looking dry. Settling for the return of LeBron James is a nice reward for standing pat, as long as the groin injury doesn’t linger.