2019-20 Finish:  29-53

Season Highlight:  Ending up with the #2 overall pick in the draft.  Let’s face it, there wasn’t much to get excited about for the Lakers last year, but they were able to end up with 3 picks in the top 10 in the draft, including pick #2.  They took James Wiseman and now they have solid potential group of players to build around.

Season Lowlight: From the end of January through February, the Lakers went 2-17, including 2 back to back 7 game losing streaks.  They ended up having 4 losings streaks of 7+ games over the year, but no month was worse than February for LA. 

Best trade:  The Atlanta Hawks send Terry Rozier to the LA Lakers. The LA Lakers send Malcolm Brogdon to the Atlanta Hawks.  The Atlanta Hawks send a 1st-Rounder (Atl) to the LA Lakers.

Brogdon is better than Rozier, but Rozier was solid for the Lakers and there isn’t really a huge gap between the 2. (Brogdon #60 ESPN, Rozier #70 ESPN.   Brogdon 82 rated, Rozier 79 rated)  For the willingness to take the lesser player, the Lakers also ended up with the Atlanta 1^st, which ended up being pick #10 overall.  Devin Vassell became the player the Lakers took with that pick.

Worst Trade:  The LA Lakers send Tyrone Wallace to the Chicago Bulls. The Chicago Bulls use their trade exception over $ 1,588,231. The Chicago Bulls trade -5 GM points.The LA Lakers receive 5 GM points.

This isn’t even a bad trade for the Lakers.  However, they only had 3 deals they made last year and this was the weakest of the three.  Wallace is a G leaguer, and really has not been able to stay on an NBA roster since being drafted in 2016, so it was no skin off Greenmig’s back to get some GM for a nobody.

Other notable trades:  The Brooklyn Nets send Jeremy Lamb to the LA Lakers. The LA Lakers send Norman Powell to the Brooklyn Nets. The Brooklyn Nets send a 1st-Rounder (Bkn) to the LA Lakers. The Brooklyn Nets receive 8 GM points. The LA Lakers trade -8 GM points.

Powell has been healthy; Lamb, not so much.  Lamb has shown the ability to be a solid player when he can stay on the court, but for the willingness to have a player stuck on IR for the season, the Nets paid the Lakers with a 1^st rounder. Notice a pattern here with LA?  The 1^st is in 2022, so we won’t see this trade’s really outcome for years, but by then, Brooklyn may not be able to be as dominant.  They are already feeling a salary crunch and that’s without Fox’s extension added.  LA could end up being lucky if the Nets have a down year.

Free Agency:

Jerami Grant:  Grant is still a solid commodity.  LA isn’t a team that could just let quality walk away for nothing, so expect the Lakers to spend to keep Jerami.

Wesley Iwundu: He is a RFA, but I don’t think the Lakers have the roster space to keep him.  Either they will trade away some of the lesser talent at the bottom of the roster, or they let Iwundu walk.

Star:  Jabari Parker.  He led the team in scoring and was consistent shooting the rock.  He was also 3^rd on the team in rebounding and 4^th in assists.  Not bad for under 7 million a year.  He is on the last year of his contract, but may have played his way into LA’s future plans. 

Goat:  Bruce Brown. Considering how well he played in the NBA, there had to be higher expectations for Brown, but he really didn’t get the opportunities to be good for LA.  He was #160 ESPN, but in the NLL, he was 408.

Draft Grade:  Depending on the expert, you see some major differences in grading.  Nenjabin gave LA an A+, Jwalk gave them an A-, but Brayden was much more critical, as he gave a C, D+, and B+ for his 3 top 10 picks.  I would say that LA got some serious talent out of this draft.  Vassell is likely one of the best shooters coming out this year, and you gotta love comparisons to Kawhi Leonard.  Aaron Nesmith was another big shooter, but has a lot of question marks.  Wiseman looks to be the real deal, but the league has been transitioning away from the traditional big man, which is really what he is.  However, there is always space for elite players, and he seems to have the ability to turn into just that.

The Future:  The Lakers have a lot to look forward to, as the drafted 5 players this year, 3 in the top 10.  If nothing else, the fans will have something worth watching, as they hope some, if not all, of these picks pan out.  They also get to see how Lamb will do, as he returns from injury.  Plus, the Lakers have maintained their own draft picks over the next few years, so even if they don’t improve in the standings, they would get opportunities to still build the through the draft.  Don’t expect too much too quickly, but the Lakers are definitely trending upward.