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The Los Angeles Lakers strange 2022-23 season has continued onward. They have been winning much more frequently as of late, but even then, their record only sits at 13-16, which is good for 12th place in the Western Conference. That wouldn't even be good enough for the Lakers to qualify for the Play-In Tournament if the season ended today.
The good news is that the season isn't over today, and still has a long way to go. But the Lakers have been dealt a massive blow in their hopes of working their way back into the playoff picture when it was announced Anthony Davis would be out for the next month or so with a foot injury he recently picked up. Davis has been the Lakers best player this season, so this is a huge loss for them.
There is no clear frontrunner in the West this season, which explains how the Lakers are just six games out of first place despite being three games under .500. It may seem like they have a decent chance at finding their way into the playoffs. But with Davis now injured, here are three reasons why the Lakers will end up missing the playoffs entirely this season.
3. The Lakers do not have a roster built to win without Anthony Davis
The construction of the Lakers roster throughout the season has been, well, a mess to say the least. They thought they were shoring up their depth with some under-the-radar free agent signings and trades this past offseason, but instead, pretty much every move they have made has backfired, which is why they find themselves where they are today.
The Lakers have been relying heavily on Davis for production, and that's a big reason why they have as many wins as they do. But with him out, Los Angeles doesn't have any true replacement for him at center. Thomas Bryant and Damian Jones is not an NBA-caliber big man rotation, and that isn't going to change anytime soon.
Even then, replacing Davis' production is a nearly impossible task. Los Angeles has some solid depth, but a lot of their bench players are getting more minutes than they should, purely because the Lakers have no one else to turn to. Replacing Davis was always going to be a tough task, but with this Lakers roster, it's very nearly impossible.
2. Anthony Davis has been the Lakers best player this season
This all goes without saying that Davis has easily been the Lakers best player this season. Davis overcame a slow start to the season to quickly emerge as an MVP candidate, and while this injury will undoubtedly hamper his chances of winning the award, it hurts the Lakers chances of making the playoffs even more because of what he was doing for them.
It's tough to think of a time when Davis had been playing a better stretch of basketball than he recently was on for the Lakers. Even after his slow start to the campaign, Davis' per game numbers (27.4 PPG, 12.1 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.3 SPG, 2.1 BPG, 59.3 FG%) are unreal. For a team that has only won 13 games, it's telling that Davis has already amassed five win shares for the Lakers.
Having LeBron James in tow will help soften the blow a little bit, but not to the point where anyone should be convinced that the Lakers can overcome his loss. After James, who is going to step up to fill the secondary scoring load on a nightly basis? Davis has been unreal for L.A. this season, and if that wasn't clear beforehand, it will become clear during the time he is now forced to miss.
1. The Lakers were not consistently winning even when Anthony Davis was playing
Even with Davis playing at this incredibly high level for the Lakers, it's not as if they were winning on a regular basis. They have gone 11-6 since their 2-10 start to the season, but they have only won three of their last seven games, and that included Sunday night's win over a Washington Wizards team that has lost ten straight games.
L.A. has gone 2-2 in their four games without Davis this season, but their two wins have come against two teams even worse than them. Against legitimate competition, which is pretty much every team in the league right now, the Lakers won't stand a chance. If they were 11-14 with Davis, that doesn't exactly bode well for their future prospects.
The Lakers were a bad team with Davis, and while the hope is he will be back on the court in a month, there's no guarantee that will be the case. And for as long as Davis is off the court, Los Angeles is going to be in some serious trouble, and there's a decent chance that by the time he returns, the Lakers playoff hopes will have completely disappeared.
