The Los Angeles Lakers hoped to see a sign of hope for the future after drafting D’Angelo Russell with the second overall pick, seeing the return of last season’s lottery pick Julius Randle from injury, the development of Jordan Clarkson, and of course, the return of a healthy Kobe Bryant.
After dropping their fourth game of the season on Tuesday against the Denver Nuggets and seeing no sign of hope for improved play from Bryant and Russell, however, there appears to be plenty of cause for concern in the early going.
While the season is still young, Bryant has looked every bit his age and Russell has had more downs than ups – particularly on the defensive end – and just about the only thing going for the rookie guard is that he’s young and it’s still very early. Despite the acquisition of Roy Hibbert over the summer to shore up the defense, the Lakers have given up a whopping 116.8 points in four games.
After seeing another letdown game at the Staples Center, Bill Simmons decided to take a shot at the struggling Lakers:
Just had to close my windows because there was a horrible stink outside. Oh wait, that’s the Lakers.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) November 4, 2015
Ouch.
Jim Park is a blogger and Tweet of the Night author for Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.