NBA: Lakers Season Review (So Far)

The Los Angeles Lakers (29-29, 10th) made one of the biggest splashes in free agency history on July 2nd when they signed LeBron James to a four-year deal worth $153 million. Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka followed that up by signing others such as Javale McGee, Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson, and others. The Lakers wanted to take a young core that just went 35-47 and turn them into a contender. Did adding LeBron automatically make them better? Of course. Did it put them on the level of the Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Houston Rockets? Not yet. Through 58 games, the Lakers are 29-29 and sit at 10th place in the Western Conference, behind the Los Angeles Clippers and Sacramento Kings for the final playoff spot.

Now, Los Angeles was the 4th seed prior to LeBron's injury on Christmas Day, which took place during an impressive 127-101 victory against the two-time defending champions. That win put the Lakers at 20-14 and they looked like they were in line to hold home court advantage in the first round of the postseason. However, LeBron's injury kept him out longer than most expected, and the Lakers were just 6-12 in his absence. Los Angeles went back to being the mediocre team of the last several years, and it was apparent that changes needed to be made. Which is when most anticipated a trade would occur. The Lakers tried to trade for Anthony Davis, but failed to do so, and ended up acquiring Reggie Bullock, who has 31 points on 45.8 percent shooting in three games since coming over.

Now that LeBron (26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds) is back at full strength, the trade deadline has came and passed, and Kyle Kuzma (19.1 points, 5.6 rebounds) is playing at a high level, maybe the Lakers can make a run at the playoffs. After last nights comeback win over the Houston Rockets, 111-106, Los Angeles will travel to New Orleans and Memphis before returning home to face the Pelicans. But then the schedule kicks up again. The road to the postseason isn't going to be easy by any means, because the Lakers have arguably the most difficult remaining schedule. In the next 10 games, Los Angeles will face seven playoff teams including the Milwaukee Bucks (44-14), Denver Nuggets (39-18), and Toronto Raptors (43-16). If Lakers miss the playoffs, it'll be the first postseason without LeBron since 2004-05.

Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated.