After another bad start to the season, the 2022–2023. Los Angeles Lakers had a 15–21 record at the start of the year. When the year turned over, it was clear that things were about to change, and a lot has happened in the 2023 calendar year.
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First, Rui Hachimura came to Los Angeles in January through a surprise trade with the Washingtσn Wizards. Trading Kendrick Nunn was a lot like adding something while taking something away. The team eventually got three second-round picks back in a trade with Denver for Thomas Bryant. Most importantly, Hachimura has been a valuable member of the team ever since he joined. This was especially true during the 2023 playoff run, which we will talk about in a moment.
Next, in February, Russell Westbrook was traded to Utah as part of a deal that sent D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Malik Beasley to the Lakers. This was probably the best move made by Rσb Pelinka. Even though I like Russ, this was an even better example of adding by taking away. This was another move where the Lakers got the better of it, just like the Hachimura trade. This one, however, got them three players instead of one, and two of those guys will stay with the core of the 2023-2024 team.
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To help you remember, this is what the Lakers’ team looked like at the start of the 2023–24 season:
STARTERS
PG: Dennis Schroder
SG: Patrick Beverley
SF: Lonnie Walker IV
PF: LeBron James
C: Anthony Davis
BENCH
PG: Russell Westbrook
SG: Austin Reaves
SF: Troy Brown Jr.
PF: Wenyen Gabriel
C: Thomas Bryant
G: Kendrick Nunn
SG: Max Christie
SF: Juan Toscano-Anderson
C: Damian Jones
After the trade deadline, here is what the renovated roster looked like:
STARTERS
PG: D’Angelo Russell
SG: Austin Reaves
SF: LeBron James
PF: Jarred Vanderbilt
C: Anthony Davis
BENCH
PG: Dennis Schroder
SG: Malik Beasley
SF: Lonnie Walker IV
PF: Rui Hachimura
C: Mo Bamba
G: Davon Reed
SG: Max Christie
SF: Troy Brown Jr.
PF: Wenyen Gabriel
The fresh look After the lineup changes, the Lakers did very well. They were able to work together on both ends of the floor, which turned around the stressful beginning of the schedule. At that point, Los Angeles had the third-best record in the NBA, with an 18-9 mark.
On offense, D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, and Malik Beasley were very useful. Jarred Vanderbilt quickly became one of the best lockdown defenders in the game. He was a big reason why the team had the second-best defensive rating in the league (110.8) during their comeback in the second half.
The team’s good teamwork carried over into the playoffs. In the Play-In event, they bєat the Minnesota Timberwolves 3-0, with a last-second splash from Dennis the Menace making the game exciting. After that tough win, the purple and gold came together to bєat the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies in the first round.
While LeBron and AD were as dominant as normal, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura stood out during that series and stole the show. It became well known that Reaves was “that guy” during his big game against the Grizzlies. Next, LeBron, AD, and the rest of the team bєat Steph Curry and his Golden State Warriors, who are always dangerous.
Unfortunately, the series with the Dodgers was the only good thing about last year’s playoff run. Without a doubt, the worst part of the run was the Western Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers were swept and given a lot of practice.
Even though it was a bad way to lose, no one in their right mind thought this team would make it that far in the playoffs. As the offseason began, the company kept its head held high. The basketball world thought about what the next steps would be as the offseason began in 2023.
A good summer for the Lakers
Two picks in the NBA draft were the first big events of the summer. The 17th pick in the first round was a good one; they picked Indiana University point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, who is 20 years old. In the second round, they picked up Pepperdine University’s Maxwell Lewis, a useful swingman. Both of them have a lot of potential for the future, but since the team was trying to win, it was mostly thought that they wouldn’t play big parts in the 2023–2024 season.
Before free agency, there were a lot of unknowns about how the front office would put together the new team. Would they keep some of their most important players? Would they be able to shoot better? Were they going to make a big splash?
During the early stages of free agency, Rσb Pelinka was praised by critics for how well he rebuilt the squad. The team’s main players from last season were kept, and the new players seemed to fit in perfectly with those key players.
But that was before the team signed big man Christian Wood to a veteran minimum deal to fill the 14th and final spot on the roster. Wood averaged 16.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game with Dallas in 2022–2023. On paper, this team seemed to have a well-balanced lineup with all the superstars, shooters, defenders, secondary playmakers, and other players that are needed to seriously compete for an NBA championship today.
Here is what the new team looked like at the end of the offseason and training camp:
STARTERS
PG: D’Angelo Russell
SG: Austin Reaves
SF: Taurean Prince
PF: LeBron James
C: Anthony Davis
BENCH
PG: Gabe Vincent
SG: Cam Reddish
SF: Rui Hachimura
PF: Jarred Vanderbilt
C: Christian Wood
PG: Jalen Hood-Schifino
SG: Max Christie
Sf: Maxwell Lewis
C: Jaxson Hayes
Not a great start for the Lakers in 2023–24
Plenty of people were excited about what this Lakers team could do in the 2023–2024 season, but the results have been mixed. On the bright side, LeBron, who is now 39 years old, continued his unending rule of dominance.
Once again, The King has been amazing, and his partner in crime AD has been just as great, if not better. Davis is one of the top prospects for the prestigious Defensive Player of the Year award in 2024. In some way, if he did get the award, it would be the first of his career.
From a slow start, Austin Reaves got back on track nicely to end the year on a wave of energy. In December, he averaged 17.3 points, 5 assists, and 4.1 rebounds per game, with shooting percentages of 49.7/39.7/91.5. He looked like “that guy” from the 2023 Grizzlies series. Cam Reddish also got back on track after a rough start to the season to earn a spot in the rotation this year (and maybe in the rotation in the future).
Another good thing is that the Lakers won the NBA’s first-ever In-Season Tournament and brought home the prize. Before this season, there was a lot of doubt about the IST, but it ended up being a pretty good attempt at the league’s newest strategy for change.
The only bad news for the Lakers during the 2023–2024 season is that was the end of the good news. This team has been hurt again and again. In the team’s first practice game, Jarred Vanderbilt played. But he hurt his heel and couldn’t play again until the team’s 21st regular season game. Gabe Vincent played in the team’s first four regular season games but then missed the next 24. He is now back on the injured reserve list after a small knee surgery that will keep him out for at least two months. Some players, like Hachimura and Reddish, have missed some games here and there. Without having their full rotation available, it has been hard for the team to get to know each other.
One more big worry was that things weren’t always going right, especially with the players. But early in the season, it made sense to put a lot of the blame on the players. But as the season has gone on, it looks like the man in charge may deserve most of the blame.
There are many people to blame, but by the end of 2023, it was clear that some changes needed to be made to get things back on track. We don’t know if that will be similar to the total change from last season, but we hope that the 2024 Lakers are better than the 2023-2024 team.