The 48-30 Los Angeles Lakers currently occupy the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, but the West is so bunched-up that L.A. doesn’t even have a guaranteed playoff spot just yet.
Only two games separate the Lakers from the Nos. 5-8 seeds, the 46-32 L.A. Clippers, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Memphis Grizzlies.
All of these clubs do have postseason berths sewn up, as the Nos. 9-11 seeds (the 38-40 Sacramento Kings, the 38-41 Dallas Mavericks and the 35-43 Phoenix Suns), who are competing for the final two play-in tournament spot, cannot catch any of these other teams by record.
Los Angeles has four games left on its 2024-25 regular season slate. The team’s ceiling has completely transformed since it offloaded 10-time All-Star center/power forward Anthony Davis, 32, 3-and-D swingman Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round draft pick to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for five-time All-NBA First Team guard Luka Doncic, 26, plus injured big man Maxi Kleber and deep-bench forward Markieff Morris.
Former Mavericks majority owner Marc Cuban has been going on a semi-apology tour to distance himself from the new ownership group’s decision to deal Doncic.
Doncic, alongside 21-time All-Star Lakers power forward LeBron James, perpetual Most Improved Player candidate Austin Reaves, and combo forward Rui Hachimura, forms an exciting new core in L.A. that could conceivably enjoy a deep playoff run.
The Lakers also sacrificed former 2023 first-round pick Jalen Hood-Schifino and their rights to the Clippers’ 2025 second-rounder, which were shipped out to the lowly Utah Jazz.
Since trading for Doncic and co. (but more importantly Doncic, given that Kleber has yet to play and Morris is not a part of head coach JJ Redick’s rotations), the Lakers have gone 20-11. While their offense has looked out-of-this-world, their defense has occasionally struggled without an elite All-Defensive rim protector at Davis’ level. Jaxson Hayes, formerly Davis’ backup, has become the Lakers’ starting five by default.
Per Mike Trudell of Lakers.com, Los Angeles is pretty much in control of its destiny across its final four regular season games.
As Trudell notes, should the Lakers go 2-2 and the Timberwolves and Nuggets each lose at least one of their final games, Los Angeles should be safe.
First up for the Lakers is a road rematch with the West’s top seed, the 64-14 Oklahoma City Thunder — whom the Lakers obliterated, 126-99, on Sunday. Oklahoma City doesn’t lose much, so L.A. should not count on this matchup as a win just based on what happened on Sunday.
The very next night, Los Angeles will face off against Davis in Dallas. The Mavericks are without nine-time All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, their best offensive player post-Doncic deal, have lost two in a row, and seem quite beatable.
Next up, the Lakers will face the West’s No. 2-seeded Houston Rockets (52-27) on Friday. The two clubs have split their season series so far, 1-1 — although one of those games was played during the Davis/Christie era. Los Angeles will finish its regular season with a Sunday matinee against the tanking Portland Trail Blazers (35-44), who are likely to be without several key role players.
