Is it panic time for the Los Angeles Lakers? Prior to getting throttled by the New Orleans Pelicans 128-111 without Anthony Davis and LeBron James on Tuesday, Magic Johnson sounded less than confident about LA's title aspirations on First Take.

It's obvious and expected that the Lakers will struggle without LeBron and Davis. And while both players have foggy timelines as far as returns are concerned, it would take an epic collapse even without them for the Lakers to completely tailspin out of the playoff picture.

That's not Magic's concern though. Magic knows what we all know: when the Lakers are healthy, you're going to have a tough time beating them four times in a seven-game series. But there are concerns about the interior of that defense.

Most notably, Johnson brings up that the Lakers don't have a Dwight Howard like last season or a JaVale McGee. It got to a point recently for LA that they signed Damian Jones to a pair of 10-day contracts and even had him in the starting lineup numerous times.

Jones' play was better than what the Lakers had expected but still not anything close to a solution to the woes in the middle. The organization opted not to extend his contract out to the end of the season. So it still leaves a question mark on that part of the defense. Maybe Andre Drummond is bought out and signs with the Lakers? Maybe they are somehow able to pry Myles Turner away from the Pacers but that seems unlikely.

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What is known is that the Lakers will be fine in the sense that once LeBron and Davis are both back healthy (assuming they get to that point), they will have as good a shot as any.

But there are concerns that they may not be able to address at the trade deadline that leaves Magic and many wondering if they have enough as the roster is currently constructed. Especially considering what other teams have added or may add at the deadline themselves.