There’s two schools of thought on what may be wrong with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The first is that the offseason acquisitions of Dwight Howard and Steve Nash created the customary overreaction from NBA fans – specifically Lakers fans – who had visions of 70-win seasons and dynastic dominance dancing in their heads.
When the Lakers followed a winless preseason by losing their first three games – pretty much scuttling any talk of 70 wins – there was another obligatory overreaction. This one blamed the newly installed Princeton offense, coach Mike Brown, Nash’s injury and climate change. Why else would the sky be falling?
The answer, as it usually is with two highly polarized knee-jerk responses, is somewhere in between.
However, the second school of thought has a bit more validity. The Lakers’ issues aren’t a product of their new offense, or their coach, or Nash sitting on the sidelines, or climate change. They are a function of their personnel.
The Lakers’ starting lineup is long and skilled and talented. It also devoid of energy and athleticism. The bench has some energy and athleticism, but is woefully short on talent.
So what to do? How do the Lakers begin climbing out of the depths of our latest Power Rankings?
Mark Heisler, our resident Power Ranker, discussed a number of possibilities with Noah Coslov of Cinesport. One of those includes an unlikely big change to the starting lineup.