Holiday wish list for every NBA team

Los Angeles Lakers

These are some dark times for the Los Angeles Lakers. They will find themselves out of the playoffs for another season, and barring a stunning turn of events, that playoff drought will carry over for the next two years to come. That is not good for one of the league’s most prominent franchises. This will be only the seventh time in franchise history that the Lakers will not play beyond the regular season finale. That speaks volumes about how far the star has fallen. There is a youth movement going on. The only thing that fans can wish for is the acceleration of that movement, while Kobe Bryant rides off into the sunset.

Can D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle grow up and become strong contributors?

If the Lakers want to remain a big box office draw beyond this season, ala the first year after Kobe Bryant, they better hope for some steady improvements with the youngsters.

Another thing that is on the wish list for the Los Angeles Lakers is the turning back of the clock.

With the second selection of the past NBA draft the Lakers bucked conventional wisdom by electing to pick up Russell. Russell had more flash to him than the player everyone thought the Lakers would select in Jahlil Okafor. As of now, Okafor looks like a perennial all-star, while Russell has struggled with the speed of the NBA game.

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