NBA Power Rankings Roundup: Where the experts rank the Lakers at the All-Star Break

There are winners and losers every year at the NBA trade deadline. Sometimes it takes weeks, months or even years to fully grasp which team is which, but this year, it was apparent immediately, as the Los Angeles Lakers took the Dallas Mavericks for a ride by turning Anthony Davis into Luka Doncic.

Davis is expected to miss a month after reinjuring his core muscles in his first game with the Mavs, which only added insult to injury for Dallas fans that have been burned by the trade. The Lakers aren't complaining a bit though, as they now have a 25-year-old superstar to build around for the next decade, a bridge to the post-LeBron years that will someday come.

Doncic had been out since injuring his calf on Christmas Day, but he was able to play his first two games in purple and gold this past week. Though he looked understandably rusty as the Lakers split two games with the Jazz, that's done nothing to quell the excitement that has been coursing through Lakers nation since the moment the trade was announced (and confirmed not to be a hoax).

L.A. has been playing its best ball of the season even before Doncic arrived, winning 10 of 11 to solidify their standing as a playoff team. With 30 games remaining after All-Star weekend, their 32-20 record has them in fifth position in the West and just three games behind the Grizzlie for the 2-seed.

Analysts and experts around the league have no choice but to take the Lakers seriously, because they look like a completely different team than the one that started the season. From the front office, to first-year head coach JJ Redick, to LeBron and Luka and Austin and Rui and the rest, the Lakers are a team a team whose short-term and long-term future is looking bright. Let's see where they stand with the All-Star festivities set to begin.

ESPN: No. 7

Every site releases its power rankings at different times, and ESPN published this latest edition before Wednesday night's lopsided loss to the Jazz. Even though that game was ugly, it likely wouldn't have changed the Lakers' position too much, as Dave McMenamin noted the instant chemistry between Luka and LeBron as a clear reason they deserve to be considered so highly already, and the impending lifting of Doncic's minutes restriction as a move that could really kickstart this new era.

NBA.com: No. 7

The league's official site hasn't put out a new power rankings since Doncic first debuted in L.A. As exciting as Doncic's addition is, it should scare the rest of the league that the Lakers made a move up to seven without him. John Schuhmann was impressed with the Lakers' defensive transformation, as they ranked third in the league in defensive rating during a recent 13-game stretch, an enormous improvement from earlier in the year. Schuhmann tempered that enthusiasm a bit by pointing out that much of that success came against non-contending teams, but in the Western conference, beggars can't be choosers. Wins are wins.

The Athletic: No. 7

The Lakers have been in playoff position for weeks, but it wasn't until recently that they finally had a positive point differential. A few early-season blowout losses and a propensity for winning close games caused that, but there's a strong case to be made that for the past month, the Lakers have been the second-best team in the league behind the Thunder. The Athletic's Law Murray has five teams in his "Top Contenders" tier, but the Lakers and Nuggets are "In a Good Place" all on their own due to their recent hot streaks. In the 14 games before Doncic arrived, JJ Redick's team was outscoring opponents by 11 points per game.

CBS Sports: No. 8

Colin Ward-Henninger slotted the Lakers into his eighth position after getting hammered by the Jazz. He doesn't believe the loss was indicative of anything beyond the obvious need for patient as Doncic acclimates to his new teammates and gets back into game shape following his calf injury. Luckily for L.A., even if Doncic does take some time to jell with everyone around him, the Lakers have built enough of a playoff cushion (they're three games up on the T-Wolves, who are currently the first play-in seed, and seven games up on the Suns, who are on the outside looking in.

NBC Sports: No. 8

Kurt Helin has the Lakers in his third tier, entitled "Playoffs or Bust." His opinion of the team wasn't swayed much by Doncic looking rusty in his first two games or the fact that new center Alex Len isn't much more than an extra body to spell Jaxson Hayes. Instead, Helin fixated on the high basketball IQ and playmaking that is sure to come from the Doncic-James-Reaves trio, and the fact that the vibes are sky high after pulling off the trade of the century. He was right when he said that nobody is going to want to face this team in the playoffs, because by then Doncic should be fully healthy and fully in sync.