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Despite leading the Western Conference with a terrific 41-12 record through the All-Star break, the Los Angeles Lakers face a few questions ahead of the last stretch of the season.
1. Will they get a quality point guard?
The trade deadline went by and the Lakers were idle, never really in the thick of any conversations for the few names available on the market.
To make matters worse, Darren Collison decided to stay retired after it looked like he would return and join the Lakers — bringing in a wave of questions to follow.
Will anyone be able to give LeBron James a rest? Will Rajon Rondo turn into Playoff Rondo down the stretch? Do Alex Caruso and/or Quinn Cook make the playoff rotation?
Rondo has been bad this season outside of a few big games. He's not the defensive presence he used to be and is still a player opposing defenses prefer to leave open to expose his poor jump-shooting ability.
James is carrying the load at point guard out of necessity, which is why new coach Frank Vogel made the official change of position in the summer — a way to keep unworthy starters out of the lineup.
The Lakers can still scour the buyout market in case a solid point guard drops, but they will need to gun for that consideration as waiting patiently has done little for them this season.
2. To load manage or not to load manage?
With the aforementioned question comes a dilemma: Will the Lakers decide to load manage Anthony Davis and LeBron James before the end of the regular season?
Both players are trotted out whiskers shy of 35 minutes per game, and they will likely need their legs to rest for what the Lakers expect will be a long postseason. Yet their four-game lead over the Denver Nuggets and a five-game lead over the Los Angeles Clippers is by no means a sureshot.
Things could get hairy if the Clippers, who have won two of their four matchups already, notch another win and a consequent tiebreaker that can dislodge the Lakers from the top spot.
The purple and gold can keep winning at this rate, but only as long as James and Davis continue dominating the way they have thus far. At the same time, grinding their legs to exhaustion can present a problem in the postseason, where their minutes will increase and the load to carry will be even heavier.
3. Which Kyle Kuzma shows up?
The Lakers trotted out a tired and ailing Kyle Kuzma after he suffered an ankle issue which he had carried since he was the last cut of Team USA before the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
Kuzma was on pace to have a smash season as a sixth-man extraordinaire, but he has struggled to play without the ball and without the means to initiate plays.
The Flint, Michigan native stayed with the Lakers through the trade deadline despite the many offers from other teams, and now he has to prove he deserves the faith the Lakers' front office has in him.
Kuzma averaged 14.9 points and 5.5 rebounds in January, but has regressed to 9.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game in six games through February. The 6-foot-8 wing won't be a defensive presence and the Lakers have likely resigned themselves to that fact, but they will need him to become a potent option off the bench through the rest of the season and provide the occasional night off for Anthony Davis if they decide to rest their star through the latter stretch of this campaign.
