The Los Angeles Lakers have high hopes to contend for an NBA Championship in the Luka Doncic era. Two postseason appearances so far have seen the Lakers win just one playoff series in that time. Losing LeBron James and a handful of other talents created huge concerns. Many fans believe the changes has caused the overall talent to decline this season.
The annual NBA General Manager poll saw the cumulative West rankings having the Lakers ranked as the sixth best team:
6. Lakers
The Lakers are hoping to have a chance at the top four seeds and to make noise in the playoffs. However, the dominant Spurs and Thunder teams were the only ones to get any votes to finish in the first place Western Conference standings. Victor Wembanyama and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander both have far deeper supporting casts than Luka does with the Lakers.
GMs don’t believe in the new Lakers big three of Luka, Austin Reaves, and Walker Kessler contending for an NBA Championship this season. The Lakers only made the leaderboard by getting some fourth-place votes. No GM believes the Lakers will be in the top three seeds for the West this season as a pessimistic belief.
This Would Be Terrible For Los Angeles Lakers
A sixth seed placement implies that it will be very difficult for the Lakers to win one postseason series and almost impossible to win more. The shocking trade of the Dallas Mavericks sending Doncic to the Lakers for Anthony Davis is not even two years old yet.
However, it created a new pressure that the team must have a realistic shot at the NBA Championship with Luka leading them. Kessler was acquired by the Utah Jazz solely due to Doncic wanting a center to have a better shot at winning.
Finishing behind the other five top West teams would show that the Lakers aren’t near to their goal yet. Most fans and pundits would agree with this ranking since the Lakers are forecasted to fall between 4th and 7th in the West. Head coach JJ Redick must get the most out of his role players to overcome their challenges.
Luka Doncic Lakers Tenure Not Certain
There is no certainty that Doncic will want to remain with the Lakers beyond his two-year contract extension. The Lakers essentially have two seasons to prove to Luka that this is the place to be.
Reaves and Kessler are highly respected by Doncic, but the rest of the roster is iffy. The Lakers have been criticized for going after too many guards by signing Collin Sexton and Quentin Grimes. Meanwhile the team still has flawed depth at the forward positions.
These moves must pay off to overachieve or next season will be quite stressful. GMs are trading superstars who don’t want to extend long-term deals. Teams below the Lakers like the Portland Trail Blazers have a shot to pass them up. The potential of falling to the play in could spell disaster.
Los Angeles Lakers Get Pessimistic Placement In NBA GM Poll