The Los Angeles Lakers are mediocre

The Los Angeles Lakers started this season off really well, going 23-11 in their first 34 games. However, there was always the underlying issue that the advanced numbers said they just were not that good. That they were closer to a .500 team than a very good one. Since that point, the Lakers are 14-13, looking like the mediocre team that their net rating had said they were. Why is this team mediocre and what does it indicate for their playoff chances?

The Lakers net rating over their past 27 games is actually better than it was over their first 34. While +1.1 is mediocre (14th in the league), it is better than +0.3 (16th in the league) they had been up to that point. Now, that number is a little inflated from their last 3 games, all wins over bad teams. If we take out the most recent wins over the Warriors, Kings and Pelicans, the Lakers net rating had been -1.8 (21st in the league) over a 24 game sample. At no point was this an elite basketball team, they were barely a good one. These are not big swings, this is who the Lakers have been all season, a mediocre basketball team. The difference in the record is because they are not winning as many close games as they had been. Over the first 34 games of the season, the Lakers were 13-0 in clutch games, since that point, they are 4-5. Once they stopped winning every close game they played in, they came back down to earth. Now, they aren’t a bad team. For the season their record is good, 37-24 and 6th in the Western Conference, that’s a good record. This isn’t a bad team, just a mediocre one but that is what they have been all year.

The bottom of the Western Conference standings should allow for the Lakers to avoid the play-in, with Dillon Brooks out for Phoenix and Golden State in free falling mode without Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler. However, the top of the conference is a different story and Los Angeles is likely to have to play a really good team in round 1. Either the Rockets, Timberwolves or Nuggets, to be more specific. (Side note, the 3 seed in the west is like a golden ticket for those three teams. You probably don’t have to play one of the other three teams in round 1 and avoid Oklahoma City until the Western Conference Finals.) The Lakers are just not on the same level as those other three teams. They won’t be able to guard Minnesota or Denver and Houston is going to beat them up a lot on the glass and when Los Angeles has the ball. Assuming the playoff standings hold pretty standard, the Lakers are staring down a first round exit for the third straight season.

There are numerous reasons as to why the Lakers are what they are. The primary one is that they just don’t defend. No matter in what way you break Los Angeles down, the first 34 games, the last 27 games or the entire 61 games, this is a bad defensive team. They have ranked in the 21-22 range all season. For the entire season, the Lakers defensive rating is 117.0, 21st in the NBA. They are giving up an effective field goal percentage of 56%, which is 27th in the NBA, otherwise known as 4th worst. They do a good job of not fouling and cleaning up the glass (though the lack of fouls could be because they aren’t close enough to the shooter to foul) but when teams make that many shots against you, your defense is going to be bad. This defense is not bad due to coaching and yes, effort is an issue but the Lakers have a bad defense because the players they have are not good defenders. Their big 3 of Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves are all bad defensive players. At center they have Deandre Ayton and relying on him is not something that typically goes over well for his teams. Marcus Smart can’t guard everybody! This is a team with a bad defense and it is the primary reason the Lakers ceiling is low.

Los Angeles has a lot of side stories going on this season. The most prominent ones hanging over this season are Deandre Ayton not wanting to be Clint Capela, where LeBron is going to play next season and Luka Doncic doing Luka Doncic things, both positive and negative. Doncic’s complaining to the refs has run rampant this season. It feels like every play he is upset about something and it has cost his team points. Luka also remains one of the worst defensive players in the league and the players around him don’t make up for it. It was clear this offseason that this was who the Lakers were going to be and it has reigned true. This is a mediocre basketball team focused on 2026-27 and beyond. The 2025-26 Los Angeles Lakers are not a great basketball team. In fact, I don’t think they are even good. A quick peek under the hood shows us that this is who they have been all season and a first round exit is likely.