NBA Overreactions: 3 Playoff hopefuls smashing the panic button through Week 1

NBA overreactions No. 3: Los Angeles Lakers shouldn’t have run it back this year.

Trading for Russell Westbrook didn’t make much sense in the first place. His ball-dominant style has never meshed well with other stars — let alone a heliocentric player like LeBron James. When it failed, the team doubled down and invested further into the lineup. Now, the Lakers’ decision-makers are forced with the reality they gave themselves: this is not a Finals contender with Russ.

Now 0-3, the Lakers took losses from the Golden State Warriors and LA Clippers to begin the season. There’s no shame in losing to either of those teams, but giving up 123 points in the first and failing to reach 100 in the second exposed glaring issues for this lineup. The cherry on top was a two-point loss at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers, capped with a horrible pull-up mid-range jumper that ultimately cost the Lakers the lead and in turn, the game late in the fourth.

These aren’t just cosmetic issues either. There’s something systemically wrong with the Lakers and their decision-making thus far. GM Rob Pelinka, who is responsible for the Westbrook trade that sent three of their best role players off to Washington, was extended in the offseason. Their only significant trade brought in Patrick Beverley, who is 3-of-15 through these games. Straying from the formula of every winning team LeBron James has been a part of, the Lakers failed to add shooting in the offseason and in turn, rank dead last in offensive rating, field goal percentage and 3-point percentage as a team.

There are decent excuses for the Heat and the Nets, but not for the Lakers. This is a result of Los Angeles’ own incompetence, and if they don’t make some major changes soon, they’ll waste yet another season of the greatest player of this generation’s career.