The Curious Case of the Los Angeles Lakers

As the shortened and compressed NBA season begins to take shape, one question that still stands out is the curious case of the Los Angeles Lakers. Following a tumultuous and highly chronicled off-season, no one knew what to make of this Lakers unit coming into the season. After 11 games and a 7-4 record, the only thing that’s cooled in Lakerland is Dwight Howard trade talks.

The biggest stumble for the Lakers this offseason was the bungled Chris Paul trade that led to the rushed and onesided trade of Lamar Odom to Dallas. Instead of immediately making use of the newly acquired trade exception, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak deemed Josh McRoberts and Troy Murphy as satisfactory replacements for the 2011 Sixth Man of the Year.

Strangely enough, the Lakers may have actually been the beneficiaries thus far in the Odom deal. While there are clearly issues with adapting to a new environment, Lamar Odom’s stint with the Mavericks has been disappointing at best. Lamar's posting sorry numbers of 6.7 points and 5 rebounds a game off of 28% shooting. While it isn’t deniable that Odom’s production is set to lift as he breaks out of this funk, it’s worth comparing his stats to just one of his replacements – Josh McRoberts – who is also in a new environment. ‘McBob’ has posted numbers of exactly 5.7 points and rebounds per game off of a much better 53% shooting percentage. Chuck in the reasonably performing Troy Murphy and the fact the Lakers still possess their trade exception and so far they’re scrubbing up alright.

The other big question mark lingered over the Lakers’ injury prone centre Andrew Bynum, who was out for the first five games of the season due to suspension. Not only was Bynum’s success and health integral for the Lakers to win games, but Los Angeles wanted teams – Orlando especially – to see how attractive Bynum could be as trade bait. While it’s too early to make a call on the health, Andrew Bynum has been playing like an absolute force since returning, posting stats close to 20-15 and averaging almost 2 blocks a game while shooting over 56%. To lend a comparison, Bynum’s rebounding average is identical to that of Howards and is only narrow trailing D12 in points, blocks and shooting percentage per game. Just like the Odom trade, this is one area of the Laker’s season that has thus far returned with a  big tick.

As we progress further down the list of potential problems the Lakers were faced with coming into the season, it begs us to ask why the Lakers have only started 7-4 when it seems all their potential faults have been more than successful. Even Kobe Bryant is scoring better than last season despite many predicting a steep decline from the veteran. Even his field goal percentage has improved from last year. But regardless of all these things that are going well for the Lakers, two things are still boding against them – they lack that consistent identity that new coach Mike Brown was hoping to bring, and they still look bested by the new kids on the block, namely Oklahoma City, Chicago and Miami.

Mike Brown wanted to create a defensive team that would challenge Chicago for the league’s best defence, and at times we’ve seen that in action. But in other patches, the Lakers defend poorly and give up tonnes of points. Furthermore, while the Lakers have performed considerably well thus far, they’re yet to claim a big name scalp. With wins coming to only Utah, New York, Denver, Houston, Golden State, Memphis and Phoenix, the Lakers have yet to defeat an elite contender. They’ve only had one shot however, or two if you consider the Blazers contenders after their hot start.

In their first high-profile clash of the year, they lost their opening game to the Chicago Bulls after a last second game winner from Derrick Rose. The Lakers proved for 3 and ½ quarters that they could match it with the best, but ultimately collapsed with the velocity that has overshadowed any clutch time confidence fans may have had in this team. Their other important match-up came against the Portland Trailblazers at the Rose Garden, where they lost a double-digit battle where they went 0-11 from three point range.

This season has been a rollercoaster thus far, with some good, some bad and some ugly. But it’s far from over, and the Lakers have a slew of quality opponents to test their mettle against including Dallas, Miami, Orlando and the Clippers. Strap in, buckle up – this one’s about to get even more interesting.