Are the Lakers now a playoff team? One expert thinks so.
The NBA trade deadline came and went last Thursday, and your Los Angeles Lakers made some win-now moves. LA improved their roster mightily, getting younger while providing some spot-up shooters and defenders for LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
The moves came after fans became weary of Russell Westbrook on the team and even after moving him to the bench in the sixth-man role, which didn’t help the Lakers win games.
Now, I’m not blaming Russ for the Lakers’ failure because it goes far beyond that, but he was the one tradable piece to use to improve the roster, and LA did just that.
Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus says he likes LA’s chances of making the playoffs after their trades.
Westbrook and his $47.1 million salary are on their way to Utah, probably briefly as a buyout candidate, confirmed by Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes. The Lakers bring back their 2015 No. 2 overall pick D’Angelo Russell while replenishing some of the depth lost with shooter/scorer Malik Beasley and high-energy, utility big man Jarred Vanderbilt.
Just like that, the Lakers have a real opportunity to make a playoff run.
Again, this is not Westbrook’s fault. The trio of James, Davis, and Russ never fit on the court. Russ does better with the ball, and so does James; of course, James is going to get most of the ball handling because he is their best player. Russ doesn’t do well off the ball, and to make things worse, he is not a good shooter in general.
The additions of D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley and Mo Bamba not only improve the roster, but these are all young guys who can be with the team for the foreseeable the future if the Lakers choose to extend them.
It’s a win-win trade for both sides as the Lakers do what they can to improve, and Russ could find himself with another team very soon.
The Lakers have 24 remaining games and currently sit as the No. 13 seed in the Western Conference. They have the pieces to get it done, but can they with little time remaining?
