James Worthy doesn't sound surprised by Lakers' playoff collapse
James Worthy doesn't sound surprised by Lakers' playoff collapse
Things were looking relatively rosy for the Los Angeles Lakers heading into this year's NBA playoffs. Although they had stumbled a bit over the final five weeks or so of the regular season, they did manage to salvage some momentum by winning seven of 10 games heading into the final game of the schedule, during which head coach JJ Redick sat most of his regulars.
After claiming the third seed in the Western Conference, the Lakers were decent favorites to get past the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round and were considered by plenty of people to be legitimate championship contenders. Instead, they exited the first round in five games, and their lack of size and depth were greatly exposed.
Franchise legend James Worthy, who is an analyst for Los Angeles-based Spectrum SportsNet, didn't sound surprised about the team's lack of success in the postseason, especially after its attempted trade for young stud center Mark Williams was rescinded in February (h/t Lakers Daily).
'When we did not get Mark Williams in that trade, I knew we could be successful throughout the regular season, but as you know and you've seen when you get with a team for seven games — look at what happened to Cleveland,' Worthy said. 'A lot of teams that are favored, doesn't always happen. I still don't think the synergy was complete with Luka [Doncic].'
Once the Doncic trade was executed on Feb. 1, it created a couple of roster holes for the Lakers, but it also created a situation where chemistry needed to be built on the fly in a very limited amount of time. It was generally understood that the Doncic deal was more about the future beginning next season than about this season.
Still, as long as LeBron James sticks around and continues to play at a superstar level, the immediate future is bright for L.A. It needs major defensive help at the center position and better guard and wing depth, but it isn't far from being able to win its 18th NBA championship.
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