Heading into the All-Star break, the Lakers were involved in many trade rumors and had their intentions set on improving their roster, as they hope to contend for a championship this season. The Lakers became very involved in the pursuit of Bulls guard Zach Lavine, who would later have a season-ending surgery on his right foot, along with Hawks guard Dejounte Murray.
However, as trade talks began to escalate, Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell, who had been struggling to begin the season and found himself in many trade rumor packages, began to elevate his level of play, as he’s averaging 19.9 points, 6.5 assists and 3.8 rebounds since the All-Star break. To go with Russell’s improved play, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura have shown flashes of great play that were prevalent in the Lakers 2023 playoff run, which ended in them getting swept by the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals.
With LeBron James in the twilight of his career, the franchise and perhaps James himself are uncertain how many years he has left as a player, let alone playing at an all-league level.
In addition, Lakers’ general manager Rob Pelinka may have pulled off one of the more underrated moves pertaining to mid-season acquisitions. On Feb. 12, it was announced that Spencer Dinwiddie signed to the Los Angeles Lakers, after getting traded to Toronto, who later waived him. Dinwiddie has been a spark off the bench, and has started a few games if need be for Lakers’ coach Darvin Ham. In his last five games in LA, Dinwiddie is averaging 12.6 points, 2.4 assists and 2.4 rebounds in 29.4 minutes per game. Dinwiddie has also been a reliable defender for Los Angeles, as he took on the defensive assignment of guarding Damian Lillard in the final possession of a 123-122 victory over Milwaukee back on March 8 at Crypto.com Arena.
Despite the Lakers having their season-high five-game winning streak coming to an end in Indiana, they remain only two games back of Phoenix, which they own the tiebreaker within the playoff seedings.
The Lakers also have the potential to get healthier come playoff time. Standout defender, Jarred Vanderbilt, has a chance to return to the lineup later in the year after suffering a right mid-foot sprain on Feb. 1. Cam Reddish has also appeared to be healthy after dealing with an ankle injury. Moreover, Anthony Davis is putting together a very healthy season, after dealing with consecutive injury plagued seasons following the championship campaign in 2020. Davis has only missed five games this season.
And despite being in his 21st season in the NBA and appearing to have a winning battle against father-time, James is still putting up All-NBA numbers, averaging 25.2 points, 8.1 assists and 7.3 rebounds per game this season. James still has the ability to elevate his level of play in the postseason, even in year 21. Flashback to last season’s playoffs, James finished the final few months of the year dealing with a right foot injury, yet still managed to bring the Lakers to the Western Conference Finals after playoff series wins over Memphis and Golden State.
Despite dealing with lingering left ankle soreness this season, James has only missed ten games this season, and hopes to lead the Lakers to another deep postseason run. James has never missed a game in his career in the postseason, and has played in 282 games in the playoffs. The Lakers, 41-33, are currently the 9th seed in the west, and will travel to Brooklyn to take on the Nets on Sunday.
