The Los Angeles Lakers have high expectations this season but they won’t be able to win the championship.
The Los Angeles Lakers did not have a great start to the 2023-24 campaign as they fell to the Denver Nuggets 119-107 in what was a repeat of last season’s Western Conference Finals. To make matters worse, LeBron James was limited in playing time, and that will likely be the norm throughout the regular season. The Lakers did win the game against the Phoenix Suns last night, winning 100-95 although both Devin Booker and Bradley Beal did not play.
Starting the season 1-1 isn’t necessarily the worst thing obviously, but we might have an indication that the Lakers are not the same team that shocked the NBA and made the Western Conference Finals last year. LeBron James will be 39 years old, Anthony Davis is as inconsistent as ever, and the rest of the roster might be overhyped. In fact, there are 10 reasons why the Los Angeles Lakers won’t be winning the championship this season.
Despite the hype and excitement that constantly surrounds the roster, the Lakers do not have what it takes to win it all and it is time to go through the 10 reasons why the Purple and Gold won’t be winning the 2023-24 championship.
10. Darvin Ham Is A Middle-Of-The-Pack Coach
Darvin Ham is a talented coach with time to improve but he isn’t considered elite on the level of the likes of Erik Spoelstra, Gregg Popovich, and Steve Kerr. Not having one of the top-five coaches in the league is not always a guarantee for failure, but with a franchise like the Lakers, this could play a role.
Ham is very confident on the bench and seems to be a player’s coach but a team with an aging roster needs as many advantages as they can get. The Lakers have had Phil Jackson for over a decade and have set a precedent that Ham will struggle to replace. Ham has not been terrible by any means but sometimes an elite coach is needed to paper over the cracks that will inevitably show itself as the season progresses.
9. The Team Might Miss Dennis Schroder
Dennis Schroder is not an All-Star in the NBA but he brought a level of speed, playmaking, and confidence with the ball in his hands with the Lakers last season. Not to mention, he had an exceptional FIBA Tournament as he led Germany to the gold medal and was the standout player for the side.
Not having a player who shined with Germany and won the gold medal might prove to be a difference-maker. Schroder has gotten off to a great start with the Toronto Raptors, dropping 22 points and 7 assists while leading them to victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Schroder had chemistry with LeBron James and Anthony Davis and not having him back is not a positive by any means.
8. New Players Will Need Time To Get Acclimated
The Lakers roster has undergone quite a few changes this season. Besides Dennis Schroder, the Lakers lost Lonnie Walker, Wenyen Gabriel, Malik Beasley, and Mo Bamba. While none of these players were stars, they formed enough chemistry to make the team reach the Western Conference Finals. Instead, the Lakers brought in a new crop of players with potential.
Gabe Vincent, Cam Reddish, Jaxson Hayes, Taurean Prince, and Christian Wood are a talented bunch but they will need time to get acclimated. It is never easy for role players to find their place immediately in their first season with a new team but the Lakers don’t have time to waste. They need to win games and everyone needs to be on the same page, meaning chemistry will need to be built quickly and some players might not be able to adjust fast enough.
7. D’Angelo Russell Is Not A Great Fit With LeBron James
D’Angelo Russell has solid talent on the offensive end and made the All-Star Team in the 2018-19 season, but he might not be the long-term answer at point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers. Russell was seen blatantly ignoring LeBron James’ instructions in the game against the Denver Nuggets and that could show chemistry isn’t exactly the strongest point right now.
Russell is not a great defensive player and struggled in the playoffs last year. He posted 13.3 points per game but only shot 31.0% from deep and was irrelevant at times when the Lakers needed instant offense. Russell might not be the best fit with LeBron James and the fact that the Lakers traded him following his second season with the team might prove he isn’t the answer in the starting lineup.
6. There Still Isn’t Enough Three-Point Shooting
Three-point shooting is what the modern game is built on and which player on the Lakers can make their three-pointers consistently? D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves are the only consistent marksmen from three and losing the likes of Malik Beasley and Troy Brown Jr won’t help in that sense. Russell is shooting 36.2% from deep over his career and while that isn’t elite, he did average 39.6% last season.
Reaves is shooting 36.4% from three over his career so far and managed 39.8% last season. The issue remains that if Russell or Reaves aren’t hitting from deep, there could be a spacing problem. Anthony Davis is encouraged to shoot threes by Darvin Ham, but he has shot under 27% for three straight seasons. The Lakers are far from being an efficient three-point shooting side and that is a negative.
P5. Expectations Might Make The Players Fold
The amount of pressure that the Lakers players will experience this season could affect their play. Anywhere LeBron James goes, drama ensues whether it’s his fault or not. We have seen countless times where solid players struggle alongside James or even when playing for the Lakers organization, and we might see the same with current players.
Christian Wood could be one of them and players such as Gabe Vincent might not be able to replicate what he did with the Miami Heat as he doesn’t have the underdog label anymore. Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura are expected to take a step up this season and that might put a little too much pressure on the players who were behind James and Davis in pecking order. Pressure has been known to affect players and the Lakers might find some in the depth chart are unreliable.
4. Austin Reaves Has Hit His Ceiling
It is still the start of the season and far too soon to make a judgment on Austin Reaves. However, how much more can the shooting guard improve? There are some in the media and sports world who seem to believe that Reaves has hit his ceiling and it is not far-fetched to believe that. The player didn’t have his best outing in the opener against the Denver Nuggets, scoring 14 points on 4-11 shooting.
The season is long and there is more to see, but if Reaves has indeed reached his ceiling after somehow finding his groove as an undrafted player, that is bad news for the Lakers organization. Reaves is the third-best player on the team and a failure to take the next step up to at least fringe All-Star status could hurt their title chances.
3. LeBron James Is On A Heavy Minutes Restriction
LeBron James will be 39 years old in a little over two months and that alone is a disadvantage the Lakers have to deal with. The King is no longer able to carry a group of players to the NBA Finals like he once did because age and attrition have caught up to the greatest small forward of all time.
To make matters worse, it might take time for Darvin Ham and the coaching staff to figure out LeBron James’ minutes restriction. The King will be limited to a maximum of 30 minutes per game to preserve his body and that will hurt the team’s ability to win enough games to gain the upper hand in the opening rounds of the playoffs. James is simply too old to be carrying players and the fact that he will be limited in playing time can hurt the Lakers record.
2. Anthony Davis Is Inconsistent And Not A Leader
Anthony Davis is exactly who we think he is. An exceptionally talented big man with a superstar impact that comes and goes. At nearly 31 years old, Davis won’t get any more consistent on both ends of the floor, and seeing him dominate one game and disappear the next will be the norm. Against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, Davis went scoreless in the second half and the Lakers couldn’t defeat the opponent as a result.
The big man’s inability to stay consistent will hurt the Lakers’ chances this season, in the regular season and the playoffs. Davis can dominate any opponent in any game but the problem is, his mentality prevents that. At the same time, even if LeBron James has stated the big man is the key to the team, Davis is not a leader and won’t be able to carry the Lakers enough when James is resting his body.
1. The Lakers Aren’t On The Level As The Bucks, Celtics, And Nuggets
With all these factors mentioned, it is obvious that the Los Angeles Lakers are not on the level of the three most dominant teams: the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, and Denver Nuggets. The Lakers might not be able to deal with the Phoenix Suns either, because the Suns have three superstar players who are capable of taking over games consistently.
The Lakers do not have the dynamic duo of the Bucks since both James and Davis are out of their primes while Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard are competing at superstar levels. The Celtics have more star power and talent than the Lakers team as a whole and the Nuggets are reigning NBA champions with an elite starting lineup.
Los Angeles will struggle with their shooting, defense, and consistency at times and that means they will find it very difficult to handle the three elite teams in the league. The Lakers might even struggle with the Phoenix Suns because due to LeBron’s age and Davis’ inconsistencies, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal could have the edge.
Due to roster issues and some negatives affecting LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers are simply the fifth-best team in the NBA at best and that will ultimately mean they will not be winning the 2023-24 championship.
