There’s no doubt, times are tough for the Los Angeles Lakers. Gone are the Championship Parades, replaced by ping pong balls at the NBA’s lottery.
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That’s a place many expect the Los Angeles Lakers to be again this season, though few believe they’ll be as bad as USA Today‘s Adi Joseph who believes the franchise will only win 22 games this season.
"2014-15 projected record: 22-60, miss playoffsWhat’s new? Power forwards are everywhere. The Lakers brought in Carlos Boozer and Ed Davis in free agency and drafted Julius Randle seventh overall. They also added point guard and likely sixth man Jeremy Lin in a trade with the Houston Rockets. But the biggest change may be new coach Byron Scott, who has a 416-521 record in 13 seasons as a head coach but direct ties to the Lakers’ glory years."
Ouch.
As noted above, the Los Angeles Lakers did make a significant amount of changes this offseason despite whiffing on their attempt to sign Carmelo Anthony (and LeBron James, to a much lesser extent). No, they didn’t bring in another franchise player to go alongside Kobe Bryant with the addition of Jeremy Lin should help the Los Angeles Lakers backcourt (especially with an injury-prone Steve Nash). Carlos Boozer isn’t much of a defender, though he’s still a capable offensive talent and Julius Randle could be in talk for Rookie of the Year when all is said and done.
It’s a safe assumption that the Los Angeles Lakers aren’t going to make the postseason this year, but 22-wins seems rather low.