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The Los Angeles Lakers just hit the lowest point of their 2024-25 season (thus far) on Monday night when they suffered a 29-point defeat, 109-80, at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves. It was a miserable effort from the Purple and Gold — with LeBron James enduring perhaps the worst game of his professional career besides that infamous 2011 NBA Finals game in which he finished with just eight points. Against the Timberwolves, James barely kept his double-digit scoring streak alive, tallying just 10 points on an abhorrent 4-16 shooting from the field.
With the Lakers coming off a stretch in which they played five games in seven nights, James, perhaps for the first time in his career, looked old — with the team rethinking James' plan to play all 82 games this season. However, The King doesn't want to hear all the chatter regarding his need for rest, even though he himself would admit just how bad things got for them against the Timberwolves on Monday night.
“[Playing 82 games is] a goal, but, we'll see. It's something I ain't discussing right now,” James said, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “Our offense is nasty right now.”
For all the hullabaloo surrounding JJ Redick and the new offensive concepts he has installed as the Lakers' new head coach, they have been struggling to score ever since their heartbreaking loss to the Orlando Magic on November 21. Their offensive rating ranks 28th in their six games since, as they have mustered just 102.4 points a night — a terrible figure in today's NBA. And when their defense isn't stifling, that inability to score efficiently is simply too big of a hurdle to overcome.
Given everything we know about James' career and his ability to take care of his body, one would think that he'll be able to bounce back from his nightmare game against the Timberwolves. And for the Lakers' sake, he better.
Lakers may have to make major roster overhaul soon
It has become very apparent over the past six games that the Lakers' roster, as presently constructed, won't be enough for them to achieve much of anything this season. Their three most-used lineups during that time frame have been terrible on both ends of the court, and that's even with both LeBron James and Anthony Davis being on the court at the same time.
A quality wing defender, another point guard, and some frontcourt reinforcements could go a long way towards giving this Lakers team a shot, because if things stay as they are, then they are in grave danger of falling off in the Western Conference standings.
