The Los Angeles Lakers continued in their rich vein of form with an important win last night to beat the impressive Sacramento Kings, with LeBron James scoring 37 points in another dominant showing.
After losing superstar Anthony Davis to injury, who had been playing at an MVP calibre level with no current timeline for his return, the Lakers looked like their season could have been about to collapse. But mostly through James' greatness, the Lakers have been able to continue winning, with role players Dennis Schroder and Thomas Bryant stepping up hugely in recent weeks to assist James.
But even with the Lakers winning six from their last seven, they remain the 12th seed in the western conference and look to be in a race for a play-in spot with the several other teams, and ultimately, unlikely to make any real noise in the post-season with their current roster.
It is something that James has been frustrated with for years now, ever since the Lakers won the championship in the 2020 Covid bubble season - the ability to put the requisite pieces around him to form a winning team.
Russell Westbrook was brought in for a big haul, who is one of the top earners in the league. And whilst he's now impressing in a sixth man role, it's fair to say that he's not giving the return on investment as to what he's being paid, whilst also limiting the Lakers ability to make moves to their roster.
The Lakers have needed shooters around James, and remain one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the league. And while James has been happy with the recent wins, he clearly is not best pleased with the teams' front office moves.
Speaking to Sam Amick at The Athletic on the Lakers roster moves, he said: "Y'all know what the f*** should be happening."
In his 20th season, James is seventh in league scoring this campaign, averaging 29 points, whilst also adding seven assists and eight rebounds.
It remains to be seen if the Lakers will be able to make any trades to their roster before the February deadline, but one they could do right now is add free agent Kemba Walker.
A point guard who is capable of creating his own shot, Walker would be one of the Lakers best three-point shooting players, and add another element to their offense whilst taking the load off of James' 38-year-old shoulders.
