After a red-hot 15-4 start, the Los Angeles Lakers have hit a wall-and it’s starting to look less like a slump and more like a reality check. Sunday’s 112-100 loss to the New York Knicks dropped them to 29-19, and with the trade deadline just days away, the Lakers are staring down the possibility that this is the team they’ll ride with for the rest of the season.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing-but it does raise some big questions about what this group can realistically accomplish.
Injuries have been a recurring theme all year, and the Lakers are hoping to get a key piece back soon. Guard Austin Reaves, who’s been sidelined with a gastrocnemius strain, is expected to return in the near future.
His return could be a much-needed shot in the arm for a team that’s struggled to find consistency. LeBron James acknowledged the impact of Reaves’ absence, along with the constant shuffle of players in and out of the lineup.
“We’ve had some really good moments. We have some not-so-good moments,” James said after the loss at Madison Square Garden.
“We want to continue to try to build off of that. I like this group.
But we got to continue to get better.”
He didn’t sugarcoat the toll injuries have taken, especially losing their All-Star-caliber two-guard. “It’s been tough all season… Unfortunately, our All-Star two-guard has been out for a minute, and that’s a big piece of our team. So it’s kind of hard to see what we can really, truly be.”
Even Luka Dončić, who torched the Lakers with 30 points, 15 boards, and eight assists, offered a vote of confidence in L.A.’s current roster. “I think we’re in a good spot,” he said.
“Obviously, got some work to do. But I think today we obviously missed a lot of good looks, but I think we have a great group.”
Head coach JJ Redick, in his first season at the helm, has had his fair share of frustrations, especially over the past couple of months. But after Sunday’s game, he took a step back to offer some perspective on the team’s roster makeup.
“I think whether you’re a GM, a coach, a player, you’re never gonna look at a roster and say, ‘This is a perfect roster, and all the pieces fit perfectly together,’” Redick said. “It doesn’t really happen a lot.”
That’s a fair point-and one that hits especially close to home for a Lakers squad that’s still trying to find its identity on both ends of the floor.
Offensively, there’s plenty to like. The Lakers rank ninth in offensive rating and lead the league in overall field-goal percentage.
But that offensive efficiency hasn’t been enough to cover up their defensive deficiencies. They sit 25th in defensive rating, which is a major red flag for any team with playoff aspirations.
And while the Lakers have the firepower to get hot, their perimeter shooting remains inconsistent. They’re 18th in three-point percentage and 23rd in attempts per game. That kind of streaky shooting only adds more pressure to a defense that’s already leaking oil.
Financially, the Lakers are boxed in. They’re less than $1 million below the first apron of the salary cap, and crossing that line would hard-cap them-making any significant trade at the deadline a logistical nightmare. Combine that with a lack of tradable assets, and the odds of a needle-moving deal before the buzzer sound slim.
So here they are: a talented but flawed team, battling inconsistency, navigating injuries, and likely heading into the stretch run with the roster as-is. There’s still time to get right, and still plenty of talent in the locker room. But if the Lakers are going to make a serious postseason push, it’ll have to come from within.