The Los Angeles Lakers had high hopes going into the 2023-24 NBA season, having made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals just six months ago. LA re-loaded their roster, re-signing Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell to team-friendly deals and added free agents Gabe Vincent, Jaxson Hayes, Cam Reddish, and Taurean Prince.

Las Vegas had the Lakers as the team with the fifth-highest odds to win the NBA title, right behind the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets, and Phoenix Suns.

With LeBron James and Anthony Davis leading the charge, the Lakers were expected to be the hunters and not the hunted, but the season has not started as LA had planned, as they are 6-6 through 12 games. The Lakers have gotten off to slow starts, routinely having to play catch-up after being outscored in opening quarters.

Much like their subpar record, the Lakers have been middle of the pack in several key categories: 16th in scoring (112.8 ppg), 18th in rebounding (43.6 rpg), and 15th in assists per game (25.3). Los Angeles is also 22nd in three-point percentage (34.3%).

Los Angeles’ issues shooting and scoring the ball at a high clip starts at the top; the top being head coach Darvin Ham. Since Darvin Ham’s tenure began in LA, many have questioned his ability to run a potent offense as well as his questionable lineup decisions.

With LeBron James, D’Angelo Russell, and Austin Reaves, there tends to be an overlap in offensive execution. Russell has been an elite pick-and-roll ball handler his entire career, Austin Reaves has been a candidate to emerge as the potential 3rd option as a ball handler, scorer, and playmaker, and LeBron James has been LeBron James his entire life; it goes without saying. Each has a tendency to hold on to the ball for similar reasons, looking to score or create for others off of Anthony Davis’ screens while the remaining three stand around. Reaves struggled the most in this lineup, so Ham made the wise decision to move him to the bench to give him more freedom.

In place of Reaves came Cam Reddish, and the individual results have worked so far, with Cam Reddish becoming more confident by the game, Reaves’ numbers improving rapidly across the board, and the spacing on the floor improving as well. There are still issues, however. Anthony Davis still has moments on offense where he struggles with consistency, as does D’Angelo Russell, who has played well of late.

Austin Reaves has not looked like the player everyone saw against Denver in May, and LeBron has looked like himself, however to ask him to remain this high level of play over the course of 82 games is unfair to him and the Lakers. The team’s three-point shooting has been below average, as they are in the bottom third of the league shooting 34.3% from downtown. Russell and James are the only volume shooters on the team, hitting just above 37% each, while any other three-point shooter taking over 3 attempts per game is shooting below 35%.

Defensively, the Lakers have been below average in two areas, getting stops and securing the rebound. LA has been constantly beat to the boards, allowing the most 2nd chance points in the league at a whopping 18 points per game. Anthony Davis and LeBron James account for almost half the rebounds per game, at 11.6 and 8.6 rebounds per game, respectively. If Los Angeles has any chance at turning the corner this season, the guards are going to have to gang rebound and push the break to get easy points in transition.

Los Angeles has a stretch of winnable games coming up against Portland, Houston, Utah, Dallas, and Cleveland. Dallas (9-3) will be their hardest test, as Luka and Kyrie seemed to have found their stride. The Rockets (6-3) are a young team looking to shake up the Western Conference, and in their last game against LA, they ran them off the floor. The other three teams are under .500, giving the Lakers a chance to come out of this stretch 4-1. It will all depend on how they control the glass and hit their outside shots. If not, someone may be on the hot seat, and as I’ve said: It starts at the top.