Lakers season preview: Three reasons LA will fail to make the playoffs
By Jason Reed
1. The inexperience
The sky is blue, Los Angeles has awful traffic and inexperienced sports teams always buckle under pressure when it comes to crunch time. As athletic, talented and promising as this Lakers team is, the fact of the matter lies that the team is too green to make any serious run for the playoffs. While talent alone may be enough for an eighth seed, experience goes a long way in success.
Los Angeles has three players in their starting five with two full seasons or less under their belts. Randle is the eldest, as he has been in the league for three years and has played two. Brandon Ingram is entering his sophomore season and Lonzo Ball is entering a men’s league after graduating high school just 16 months ago.
The new addition at shooting guard, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, certainly is not experienced either. KCP has played four seasons in the NBA, only making the postseason once. That appearance resulted in a sweep by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Brook Lopez has the most experience in the starting five and even that is not a staggering amount. Lopez is entering his tenth season in the league, yet the center has only played in 13 playoff games. Both were first-round eliminations in 2013 and 2015.
Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart, Jordan Clarkson, Ivica Zubac, Larry Nance Jr, Tyler Ennis and Thomas Bryant all occupy an inexperienced Lakers bench. Really, Luol Deng is the only true experienced player on this team, yet talks of trading him are at an all-time high.
When the going gets tough the tough get going. Although the Lakers may be put together with some tough guys, they will not be tough enough down the stretch.