Figueroa Traffic Jam

By Peyton Schultze

The Lakers were not perfect by any means in the first half of the season, but still sit at 24-13 and third place in the Western Conference at the All-Stark break (via ABC7).

With the second half of the NBA season ready to tip off, the road toward the NBA playoffs continues to get tighter and tighter at the top.

For the defending world champion Lakers, it has been a strange couple of months. Yes, the Lakers have already had some spectacular moments this season led by the MVP play of James and the emergence of valuable pieces like Kyle Kuzma and Alex Caruso, but LA has also had some concerning steps along the way that have clouded their immediate future. The Lakers, alongside the Nets, will surely be the title favorites throughout the NBA heading into the postseason, but what do the Lakers need to do in the next couple of weeks to get their train back on the track and make a forward push toward an eighteenth world championship?

With that, we look at five factors that could make-or-break the 2021 Los Angeles Lakers in the second half of the season, and how these keys to success could once again cause some separation from the field inside of Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.

1. A Healthy Anthony Davis

If the Lakers want any chance of capturing back-to-back world championships, they will need a fully healthy Anthony Davis to return to the lineup at an All-NBA level (via International Business Times).

The Lakers sit at third in the Western Conference despite being without Anthony Davis for the past couple of weeks, but even when he was in the lineup, he has not played like the same player many have become accustomed to seeing.

At 22.5 points per game, 8.4 rebounds per game, and 1.8 blocks per game, Davis has produced some of the worst statistics of his career in a single season, or at least since the first two seasons of his career coming out of the University of Kentucky. At a mere 27 years-old and in the midst of his prime, Davis’ odd production across the board this year has to worry Lakers’ fans for the future as LeBron James continues to age (although his skills have not declined whatsoever) and other role players are forced to carry the load in his absence. In the short-term, however, it is clear that Davis needs to take some time to rest and get his injured calf healthy in time for the playoffs. In addition, head coach Frank Vogel has to put Davis in some better situations on offense like last year. Davis’ shot attempts, shooting percentage at the charity stripe, and accuracy behind the arc have all plummeted in his second year with the Lakers, and he needs to regain his confidence on offense very soon if LA wants to remain the largest title threat out west.

When the NBA playoffs roll around in a couple of months, it is clear that the Lakers will have virtually no chance at a title if Davis is not healthy and in the starting lineup for the Purple and Gold. That means his continued absence should last as long as it takes to get him back to 100% on the court, as there is a fair chance the shortened offseason is causing some harsh wear and tear on the versatile power forward. Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic are elite players putting together some outstanding numbers this season, but Davis is the game’s best overall big man on both ends when healthy. The Lakers will need that version of the All-Star forward to show up once he returns to the starting lineup as James’ running mate, especially as Los Angeles preps for what could be another long playoff stretch.

2. Acquiring Athleticism in the Interior or Another Scorer On the Wing

James has played at an MVP level once again for the Lakers, but the team seems to be missing their unique athleticism inside the paint that helped them capture a title last season (via Silver Screen and Roll).

In a situation that many Laker fans did not see coming, Los Angeles truly misses JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard in the middle. Although neither player on the Lakers’ title team was much of a scorer on offense, their ability to block shots and provide athleticism at the rim on both ends and in quick spurts was a major factor in the team’s title pursuit inside the NBA bubble in the 2019-2020 season. So what is the Lakers’ solution to this problem with both players on other teams? Cavaliers’ center Andre Drummond could be on the move very soon via a trade or release according to rumors around the league, and the Lakers would be wise to jump on any opportunity that they are given to acquire the former All-Star center.

While Drummond would be an ideal pickup for a team lacking size in the middle, the Los Angeles bench also seems to be lacking a true wing player who can provide a scoring punch in the second unit other than young guard Talen Horton-Tucker. The athletic slasher has been great in stretches for the Lakers this season, but relying on such a raw prospect as the playoffs loom could be an unsettling thought for fans. The team clearly needs a third scorer alongside James and Davis, and although some players have filled the void in Davis’ absence, there are still some major question marks. If the Lakers are to acquire another player who could help contribute, although salary cap restrictions could prevent anything major from happening in a trade situation, options could include a variety of names such as:

• DeMar DeRozan

• Kristaps Porzingis

• LaMarcus Aldridge

• Rudy Gay

• Harrison Barnes

• PJ Tucker

• Trevor Ariza

• Evan Fournier

• Terrance Ross

• Eric Gordon

• Thaddeus Young

All of these options could be far-fetched due to unwillingness to trade or the amount of other suitors that could enter the buyout market, but is is clear the Lakers need at least one more addition for the sake of their roster. The Lakers are the defending champions right now, but if they refuse to make any more moves and enter the postseason with their current roster, teams such as the Los Angeles Clippers and Brooklyn Nets could have just as much of a path toward a title as the Lakers.

3. Beating Quality Opponents on Home Court

The Lakers have been excellent on the road, but have had some poor stretches at Staples Center over the course of the season against some top notch opponents such as the Nets (via Orange County Register).

The Lakers have been excellent on the road this season, leading the NBA with 13 wins outside of the Staples Center. However, home has not really been where the heart is for the Lakers this season. Los Angeles sits at a very pedestrian 11-8 in downtown LA this season, and while that is not horrible considering their current place in the standings, they have fallen to several very good teams such as Brooklyn, Golden State, Miami, and Phoenix on their own home court.

If this trend continues (especially in the outside chance that fans start to return to the arena in the next month or so) and the team is forced to swallow all of their big wins on the road, the Lakers may take an even larger dip in the standings and fail to gain a top four seed in the increasingly competitive Western Conference. The Lakers certainly have the experience and the talent on their roster to be able to win any seven-game series against any opponent as the lesser seed, but Los Angeles would surely prefer to not match up with historically tough home squads in the playoffs such as Denver, Portland, and Utah if they were the lesser seed.

This is not absolutely urgent for the Lakers, but this sudden trend could lead to bigger problems down the line if the defending champions keep letting contending teams walk onto their home court and squeak out a win. The second half of the season will be a major test to this over the next couple of weeks, as the Lakers prepare to face a grueling schedule that will test their roster build in all sorts of ways.

4. Improved Ball Movement to Take the Pressure Off James’ Shoulders

James played far too many minutes in the first half of the season, which means that players like Kyle Kuzma and Dennis Schröder will need to be key contributors for the Laker offense as they get closer and closer to the playoffs (via Silver Screen and Roll).

If you have watched the Lakers at all in the 2020-2021 regular season, you would definitely know that this particular team has a serious tendency to play close games in the 4th quarter that often are sent into overtime. This has become a very negative trend as LeBron James’ minutes continue to have unneccary boosts over the course of the season, which has seemingly worn down James late in games and forced the Lakers to often become a jump-shooting team on the offensive end.

The Lakers are not terrible from behind the arc, but it would be wrong to say that is a major strength of their team. Too often in the first half of the season, Los Angeles would take the shot clock all the way down to at least three seconds with very limited ball movement and crunched up spacing on the wings. The Lakers have often been bailed out in these situations by the unique passing ability of King James, but it is also fair to say that this is not really a sustainable and winning formula that can carry the Lakers all the way to The Finals in the Western Conference.

In this situation for the second half, the Lakers have to increase their ball movement through the post in order to set up shots on the perimeter for others. This will surely help once Anthony Davis returns to the lineup, but the Lakers must get James, Montrezl Harrell and Marc Gasol more involved in post situations with their back-to-the-basket for as long as Davis is out of the lineup. This will set up more opportunities for the Lakers’ guards and forwards on the wing, while even more importantly giving some James some rest of his own while on the court by taking the burden of running the offense on every possession off of his shoulders. The 2019-2020 Lakers often had this same exact problem before finding their mojo in the playoffs, so who is to say that they can’t resolve this internal problem once again for the second straight year?

5. Defining Individual Roles for the Playoffs

The Lakers have had some stretches of very poor play in the first half of the season, largely due to what appears to be a lack of practice time on the court together (via Lakers Daily).

The Lakers were able to retain a decent amount of players from their title-winning season a year ago, but it is also easy to underestimate how much roster change they have faced over the past couple of months. With plenty of faces in new places, the Lakers have been forced to adjust their rotation in a variety of ways, but plenty of miscommunications and a lack of true chemistry still remains on-the-court. While this team still appears to be a tight-knit group, it does seem like the Lakers are missing out on the practice time in the facility that has been constantly limited due to the COVID-19.

Much to the annoyance of Laker fans, Frank Vogel has toyed around with a wide variety of lineups this season in the middle of games. However, this a wise decision for the long-term sake of the team due to this lack of practice and time together on-the-court, which gives the coaching staff a clue of what rotations work best against certain opponents. So how can the Lakers’ coaching staff define their players’ roles even more as they head toward the playoffs, while also developing the team’s chemistry on the court and producing some wins to get them near the top of the West?

For one, Vogel must decide what to do with forward Kyle Kuzma. This may be the best overall year of Kuzma’s career so far on both ends, and while he is a nice boost off the bench, he has had some great success in the Lakers’ starting lineup. In addition to this, guard Dennis Schröder could easily take the reigns as the team’s secondary ball handler behind James (the Rondo role from a year ago), whereas guards Alex Caruso and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope have had some very bright moments alongside James and deserve a fair share of minutes. Yet the key for Vogel’s rotations may be Harrell. The former Clipper forward is an excellent scorer off the bench, but he has had some shaky moments on the defensive end this season. Vogel must figure out how to best utilize a player of Harrell’s making: can he play 30+ minutes a night, in very short spurts for around 20 minutes, or will his court time be significantly reduced if his defensive play continues? All options come with some pros and cons, and the LA coaching staff faces a lot of pressure to somehow weave in their new additions while maintaining the traits of what made the team so good in their championship winning season a year ago. The Lakers have some big decision to make in their rotations, and it will be fascinating to see how they monitor and maintain such a deep roster full of unique talents with their own special skillsets.