ESPN say the Lakers are 16 and 7 since they made their mid-season trades. That would be a 57 win pace if maintained over the course of a full season.
I don't know why people hate to admit this but LAL, with Davis and LeBron healthy, is a very good team, even before the deadline trades. With what they did with the trades, they are that much better. If Davis and LeBron hold up, I believe that LAL is as good as anyone in the West. All the West teams have questions. Can Denver compete in a playoff atmosphere? Will PHO gel as a team and will Durant hold up? Is SAC really any good? Will GSW flip the switch when Wiggins comes back? The LAL are right there with any of these teams, so long as both Davis and LeBron hold up.
Very good is a real stretch. They have really only been very good one of their 4 years together. Lebron is obviously at his oldest of the partnership and is not the player he was when he joined the lakers. They also still are not a great shooting team. Lebron is shooting 30% from three this year. That often goes with older players when they are forced to play heavy minutes. Vanderbilt and Schroeder shoot 33% and Davis has been atrocious from deep. That’s almost certainly the worst three point shooting team for starters in the playoffs. Also, the results have certainly been not that impressive on the court. They won by two points in overtime against a team desperately trying to tank last night. My personal belief is that Lebron is not a top ten player any more due to his massive decline in defense and being a poor outside shooter. I do wonder how much people are watching the actual games if they think Lebron is in the same category as jokic, Embid, Durant, Giannis, Tatum etc.
Edit: honestly forgot about russell cause he has played so infrequently since joining. He is a very good shooter.
