"I think they have an early exit" - Jay Williams reserves a pessimistic outlook towards LA Lakers' playoff campaign
NBA and Western Conference powerhouse the LA Lakers and their tumultuous season thus far is doomed to end early in the postseason this year, according to Jay Williams.
Appearing on ESPN's morning show Get Up, the former Chicago Bulls player talked about how the Lakers will have their season end in the first round of the postseason this year. Williams said:
"I think the Lakers will win the play-in game but i see them having an early exit in this whole thing. But I think not having AD with that injury, having Russell Westbrook that we are trying to see buy into a different role for his team, I think they get through the Play-In tournament, but I think they have an early exit once they get into the playoffs."
Despite LeBron James' heroics thus far, the Lakers have had an underwhelming season and a lot of that has to do with the likes of Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook, with the former missing a lot of games due to injuries and the latter struggling to fit into this roster.
How can the LA Lakers figure things out?
With the All-Star Weekend past us, more than half the season is over and the LA Lakers are yet to justify their championship aspirations with performances. This is a poorly constructed roster that has been struggling all season and will not, in all likelihood, even make the postseason if their performances don't improve.
The Lakers are 5-1 in OT this season, already the most wins in the NBA. https://t.co/CDmjehXcRO
One of the primary reasons why the LA Lakers have been struggling is because of Russell Westbrook's performances. The former OKC Thunder superstar has been leaking turnovers, and the pace with which he plays has been detrimental to the NBA's oldest roster. He is averaging 4.0 turnovers this season. His acquisition was supposed to ease the workload on James but has ended up compounding it.
The only way forward for the Lakers is by putting Westbrook with the second unit. That way, he can utilize his pace and energy to punish the opponent's rotation while being surrounded by shooters and spacing the floor better. This will allow the LA Lakers to do the same with LeBron James as they can surround him with shooters while creating a pathway to the rim for King James to attack.
The Lakers loss to the Trail Blazers puts them 4 games under .500 for the 1st time under Frank Vogel.
Anthony Davis played 9:09 in the 4th, but didn't attempt a shot- FG or FT.
The last time AD played at least 5 mins in a 4th quarter without a shot attempt was Dec. 28, 2015 https://t.co/8Nv8lE4TEX
Along with this, the defense needs to sort things out as the team is currently ranked 16th in the league in terms of defensive rating and has been blown out by opponents this season. The likes of Kendrick Nunn, who is yet to play a minute this season, will be a huge boost to the team if he can return soon. Either way, the LA Lakers (27-31) need to figure things out quickly if they want to make some serious noise in the postseason this year.