Our last power rankings round-up for the Los Angeles Lakers was just over two weeks ago, and as Taylor Swift and Post Malone could tell you, it's amazing what a fortnight can do. At that point, the Lakers were on a heater with five straight wins, but as we check in now, L.A.'s outlook is much less rosy. Lakers fans, sing to the team in unison—I love you, it's ruining my life.
Unfortunately for head coach JJ Redick, there's no easy fix for what ails his team. The Lakers have looked old and slow, especially on defense, where they rank near the bottom of the league. They've struggled against any team with a pulse, with their only wins in the last four weeks coming against the Blazers, Jazz (twice), Spurs (twice) and Pelicans. Most concerningly of all, LeBron James has endured the worst stretch of his career, and Anthony Davis, though still capable of dominating on most nights, hasn't been the consistent force he was at the beginning of the season.
As a result, the Lakers have plummeted in the power rankings we've seen from some of our favorite NBA writers. Let's check in on how the Lakers look with more than a quarter of the season in the books.
John Schuhmann of NBA.com had the Lakers and Spurs as his biggest fallers of the week, with L.A. dropping six spots to 19th thanks to their recent skid.
Schuhmann illustrated just how bad the Lakers have been on defense, and especially in the clutch, as they were in allowing Trae Young to beat them with an overtime three on Friday. That's important, but it's not news to Lakers fans, who have watched this team struggle to stop anybody all season.
What's most devastating about Schuhmann's Lakers-related takeaways is that he correctly points out that the Lakers have been a markedly better team with LeBron off the floor this season. That's something that's unsurprisingly never happened in King James' 22-year career, but the proof is in the pudding. LeBron finally rested against the Blazers, and the Lakers came away with their first win in four games while playing their best defensive game of the season. It would be folly to suggest that the Lakers are better off without LeBron in the long run, but they need more effort from him on the defensive end.
Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report also has the Lakers at 19 due to their recent "tailspin," and he's not wrong when he says that this team has "to be thinking about a dramatic shake-up." The embarrassing performance the Lakers turned in against the Heat last week made Bailey's point, but sadly it's not the only blowout the Lakers have absorbed lately. L.A. now has the same point differential per game as the Brooklyn Nets, a team that at the beginning of the season was thought to be strong contenders in the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes.
ESPN had the Lakers ranked 13th, but that was five days ago, before the Heat blowout and the overtime loss to the Hawks. The Lakers' defensive woes have been well-documented, but ESPN NBA reporter Dave McMenamin's point still stands that the Lakers' offense has let them down lately as well. Early in the season, L.A. was able to outscore teams to win, but as LeBron and Anthony Davis have endured cold stretches lately, the defensive issues have been even more glaring.
ESPN's Basketball Power Index (BPI), which measures a team's expected point margin against an average team on a neutral court, is up to date with the latest results and has the Lakers at 16th in the league, its last team with a positive (albeit just barely) BPI rating.
CBS Sports' Colin Ward-Henninger slots the Lakers in at 17 in his latest power rankings, while torching them for their propensity for getting blown out. Ward-Henniner's blurb about L.A. is harsh but fair, with his most damning point being that they "needed every ounce of strength to escape with a one-point victory over the four-win Jazz." Reading the rest of his team assessments, it's a wonder that the Lakers didn't end up somewhere around 26th, because he found something positive to say about almost every team except JJ Redick's bunch. With the way the Lakers have played lately, though, you can't fault him for it.
It shouldn't take a bunch of power rankings for the Lakers to realize that they're in trouble right now. Letting LeBron get some rest should help some, but until Rob Pelinka pulls off his first trade of the season, the ceiling and the floor on this team will remain low.