Lakers: Offseason Losers

[ElNono]

Los Angeles Lakers

Oh boy, was there a lot of Lakers schadenfreude among rival execs in Las Vegas — and a lot of confusion about why the Lakers are bothering with Chris Kaman/Nick Young types instead of going into full-blown tank mode.

I keep hearing from L.A. fans assuring me this is a playoff team. Really? Take a look at the Western Conference: The Clippers, Spurs, Thunder, Grizzlies, Rockets, and Warriors are locks, barring catastrophic injuries. That's six spots. Denver still lurks, Portland fattened up its bench, Minnesota and New Orleans are both going for it, and Dallas has shown it's hard to win fewer than 40 games with a healthy Dirk Nowitzki and even a so-so supporting cast.

News flash, Lakers fans: Kobe is coming off one of the worst late-career injuries a player can suffer, and this defense was a giant sieve anytime Howard hit the bench last season. This looks like a lottery team banking on free agency for salvation, only it's not quite bad enough to get true lottery value..

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...ything-between

[Spur-Addict]

In my opinion, they're third in their own division. It's not looking good right now for the lake show. What's the over/under on how many PPG they give up this year? 102?

[Rogue]

Lakers can't sink the ship intentionally to start over and dump the passengers in the sea. They will be in the pursuit for the last playoff spot which's gonna be a dogfight amongst several other teams that include Denver, Pelicans and probably Minny and Portland.