Los Angeles Lakers
The 2020-21 Los Angeles Lakers season can be defined by monumental injuries, and by the fact that they lost in the first round of the playoffs — the sixth defending champion ever to do so, and the first first-round loss of LeBron’s career.
What did we learn?
The injuries were prevalent this time around, and the supporting cast was not nearly as good as we thought it would be.
It seemed like Schroder, Trez, Marc Gasol and Wes Matthews would be an upgrade over Rondo, Dwight, JaVale and Danny Green. It just didn’t work out that way in the end.
It seems so long ago now, but the season actually started off nicely for the Lake Show. LeBron completely eviscerated the Cavs for 46 points on that random Monday night in late-January, looking as dominant as ever in Year 18. Over the first month of the season, the Lakers were right back at the top of the Western Conference, and LeBron was shooting 41 percent from 3 on 6.8 three-point attempts per game, both career-high marks for The King.
Then AD got hurt on Valentine’s Day, his calf/Achilles, missing 30 straight games and 36 in all. And on that fateful Saturday afternoon in March, Solomon Hill fell on LeBron’s ankle, a high-ankle sprain that caused him to miss 26 games of his own, and he never looked quite right after he returned to the court.
Without LeBron and AD, the Lakers defense remained stout and helped keep them from drowning. The Lakers were able to maintain the #1 defense in the NBA for the entire season! Frank Vogel has not received enough credit for that, but it’s probably because the Lakers offense never found a rhythm, lost and hopeless without their two superstars, 24th in offensive rating. They brought in Andre Drummond to try to help, a move that screamed of desperation.
Once AD and Bron finally returned, Schroder was out with Covid. It really was one thing after another.
The Lakers limped to the finish and ended up 7th in the West, requiring them to play the Warriors in the inaugural play-in to make the playoffs, a chance to miss the playoffs altogether. It took a comeback in the second half (the Warriors were up 13 at one point!), but LeBron’s game-winning 3 over Steph was absolutely iconic, shooting at the middle of the three rims he was seeing after being poked in the eye by Draymond.
But the Suns, the Suns were no joke. The Suns were for fucking real. When we saw the way that the Suns came out for Game 1, running around hyped AF, that’s when we said aloud, “Uh oh.” And we knew. We knew the Lakers were in trouble. Big trouble.
The Suns won that game but then the Lakers won the next two and all seemed right with the world as LeBron was clowning on Jae Crowder with Drummond mimicking his hero on the bench. But then AD went down again, his groin this time. The Suns pulled out that Game 4 and then obliterated the AD-less Lakers in Game 5. AD was cleared for Game 6 but had no business being out there, barely lasting five minutes, unable to get up and down the court. Book went the fuck off in that 1st quarter, a man on a mission with 22 points and 6-of-6 from 3. Jae Crowder his three 3’s as well, and the Suns were up by 29. Much respect to the Lakers for actually fighting back to make it a game, but the deficit was too much. LeBron was unable to play 45+ minutes. He only played 41.
The Lakers offense never found its footing all season long. It’s hard to do that when you don’t have all of your guys out there, especially your very best ones. Schroder was inconsistent, a step down from OKC Dennis. He was flat out repulsive in the play-in game and not too helpful at all in the Suns series. (But still recently recovered from Covid, we must add.)
Trez Harrell was a spark off the bench for most of the season on offense, but he was constantly aimless and getting cooked on defense, rendered unplayable in the playoffs once again. Marc Gasol looked old and slow, yet he could still be a rock and Mr. Wolf sometimes when called upon. Wes Matthews had the worst three-point shooting percentage of his career. The Drummond Expedition had a few okay moments with the big-big lineups, but he got a DNP in Game 6 after mostly being a starter. That tells us what they really thought of him in the end. He could not be counted on.
Kuzma improved as a defender and had some good shooting games here and there, but he no showed in the first round when the Lakers needed him most.
Props to KCP who was once again the most reliable, but even he dealt with an injury in the Suns series, missing Game 4 completely and playing just 15 minutes in Game 2. Caruso played a really great game against Steph in the play-in, but he also didn’t return in the second half of Game 6 against Phoenix. The injuries, man.
If things broke right for the Lakers in the bubble, then they did the opposite of that this season. It’s hard not to wonder if the problems in 2021 could have been ramifications from the Lakers championship run in the bubble to some degree. It was the shortest offseason in professional sports history after all.
Even so, the fact remains that the West is a sure-fire gauntlet, and a fresh crop of shining stars have arrived.
How will The King and The Brow (and Rob Pelinka) respond?
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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?
Over 48 wins. The Champs are deep AF and coming for that repeat!
Lakers 2020-21 Record: (42-30)
Nope, our preseason Over/Under prediction did not hit.
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What’s Next?
Get. Healthy.
A lot of roster spots to fill here: Caruso, Schroder, Drummond, Trez (player option), Talen Horton-Tucker (restricted), Keef Morris, Wes Matthews and Ben McLemore could all be free agents.
You GOTTA bring back the Bald Mamba, the longest tenured Laker! Schroder lost a bag with his performance at the end of the season. But we must reiterate again that he was still recovering from Covid. Drummond has probably alienated himself from a chance at returning to the Lakers due to his exploits online.
Swing a sign-and-trade for Kyle Lowry? Maybe DeRozan? The Lakers do have the #22 pick in the draft that they could include in a deal.
Gonna need some shooting! And to fully find their way on offense again.
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Favorite Lakers Highlight from the 2020-21 Season:
LeBron’s first return home to The Land since 2018, and it was a King’s return indeed.
A member of the Cavs front office sitting courtside was “a little bit too excited” and overly cheered LeBron missing a shot at the end of the 3rd quarter.
So LeBron outscored the Cavs in the 4th quarter by himself.
That’s some King shit, for real.
