The Los Angeles Lakers are currently in the longest playoff drought in franchise history, having been out of the postseason picture in four consecutive seasons.

With that in mind, veteran forward Luol Deng recently told James Walters of the Daily Star that the Lakers' primary goal for this upcoming season is to make the playoffs.

“We’ve got a lot of new guys but we also lost a few players so we’re looking forward to it.

“[The play-offs are] always the main goal. If you get yourselves to the play-offs, you always have a chance.”

The new front office regime has shuffled the roster a bit this offseason with the addition of several new young faces to the mix. It all began with the decision to move former second overall pick D'Angelo Russell in a trade to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for former All-Star center Brook Lopez.

This was followed by the addition of several rookies led by former UCLA point guard Lonzo Ball through the draft and added former Detriot Pistons guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope via free agency. All of this has shifted the entire vibe around the organization with their renewed commitment to their young core group.

That said, making the playoffs will be a lofty goal given all of the All-Stars moving to the Western Conference such Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Paul Millsap to the Denver Nuggets, just to name a few.

The Western Conference has the potential be as stacked as it's ever been with many teams making moves to better challenge the defending champion Golden State Warriors. Regardless if the Lakers are able to snap their playoff drought, it should be an entertaining campaign where the team shows flashes of promise of what could lie ahead beyond just next season.