As the Lakers continue to spiral out of playoff contention with their latest loss on Sunday to the Nuggets, former Los Angeles star and current TNT basketball analyst Shaquille O’Neal has seen enough.
O’Neal joined CBS Sports HQ on Sunday and discussed what the Lakers have to do in the offseason to right the ship heading into next season.
“You gotta get rid of expiring contracts“ Shaq told CBS Sports HQ. “You gotta get rid of the projects that didn’t work. And you gotta try to get younger and more athletic around LeBron. Because paper-wise, when everybody did the deals ‘Ooh Westbrook, ooh this and that’ but you know age is a factor. You know [Anthony Davis] was hurt all year. ... But gotta keep him healthy. So you still keep LeBron and AD but then you gotta probably make moves for everyone else.”
After losing to Denver on Sunday, Los Angeles now finds itself two games behind San Antonio for the No. 10 seed, which would put the Lakers in the play-in tournament. The Spurs also hold the tiebreak over the Lakers, which means that the Lakers needs to make up three games in the standings with four games remaining in the regular season.
While the Lakers have not yet been officially eliminated from playoff contention, it’s looking increasingly unlikely that Los Angeles will make the postseason.
After being one of the favorites on paper to come out of the West this season, missing the playoffs would be a massive failure for a roster that features multiple future Hall of Famers.
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