SDH's 2012/2013 NBA Worst to First Previews and Predictions: 4. Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers Overall Win/Loss Record :  41-25 first place Pacific Division	Last Season’s Rank 7	Projected 2012/2013 Finish 4
Last season’s Team Statistics and League Rank Points Scored: 97.3 (15th) Points Allowed: 95.9 (15th) Team FG%: .457 (8th) Opponent’s FG%: .437 (9th) Rebounds per game: 46.2 (2nd) Opponents rebounds per game: 41.0 (10th)	Returning Individual Statistical Leaders Scoring: Kobe Bryant (27.9) Rebounds per game:  Pau Gasol (10.4) Minutes per game:  Kobe Bryant (38.5) Assists per game:  Kobe Bryant (4.6) Steals per game:   Kobe Bryant (1.2) Blocked Shots per game:   Pau Gasol (1.4)
Projected Starters Based on Last Season’s Performance, Veteran Seniority and Projected Impact C: Dwight Howard PF: Pau Gasol SF: Ron Artest SG: Kobe Bryant PG: Steve Nash	Key Reserves Based on Last Season’s Performances, Veteran Seniority and Potential Impact. Antawn Jamison (F) Steve Blake (PG) Jordan Hill (F/C) Jodie Meeks (SG) Chris Duhon (PG)
2012/2013 Projection:  60-22 first place in the Pacific Division—it’s championship or bust for this aging L.A team. Analysis: While Lakers fans are already planning their victory parades come June, they will be disappointed to know that their team is not the powerhouse that they will expect one the season begins in November.  Despite pulling off two of the most impressive offseason moves in probably its history, the Los Angeles Lakers are far from the superpower that they have been portrayed to be.  Sure they may have acquired the league’s top center in Dwight Howard in one of the most complicated trades ever conceived and signed a future hall of fame point guard in Steve Nash; however, despite the overhaul, the Lakers still remain a rather flawed team.  To start off , they will be entering the season with one of the oldest rosters in the league along with having close to 83$ million dollars invested in a starting five who have an average age of 32.4 years.  Lakers fans are essentially pinning their championship hopes on a 38 year old point guard who probably should have retired in Steve Nash and a possibly one and done player in Dwight Howard—not exactly a solid foundation to build a championship contender. While many have the Lakers owning the regular season with their star studded lineup, the facts will show that projection is farther than the truth.  With the current state of the Western Conference, the Lakers will be lucky enough to win their division, let alone the Western Conference. Impressive as their offseason moves were, the Lakers only made themselves at best to be at par with the other elite teams in the West.  They cannot even set themselves apart from their fellow Staples Center tenant Los Angeles Clippers who have also made major strides this offseason as well.  As for the other top dogs in the West—namely the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder—the Lakers will have a lot to prove in showing that they can even measure up to the likes of those teams, let alone surpass them. Last season, the Thunder simply manhandled this Lakers team as they literally zipped past them in the backcourt not even allowing LA to catch its breath let alone catch up.  Now, the starting backcourt consists of two aging veterans who are a step slower and possibly unable to keep up with lightning quick guards such as the Thunder’s Russell Westbrook and the Clippers’ Chris Paul to name a couple.  Unless those flaws in defense are remedied, LA will continue to struggle with the younger and quicker teams in the league.  Along with its suspect defense, LA’s bench still remains a major question mark as even though it has greatly improved from last season, it still remains rather old, slow and inconsistent.  The Lakers’ second unit is currently anchored by a 36 year old Antawn Jamison who has seen much of his quickness and athleticism fall at the waist-side. Upon closer inspection this team is no more of a championship contender than it ever was last season—the Lakers just have bigger names in their roster, that’s all.  It is sort of reminiscent of the roster in 2004 where the Lakers acquired two aging big names whose best years had passed them by to play alongside the team’s stars at the time, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.  The team picked up a 41 year old Karl Malone who was let go from his previous team the Utah Jazz along with signing a 37 year old Gary Payton to give the Lakers another shot at a title.  It was a disaster from the start of the season as the aging Karl Malone, known for his longevity, simply just fell apart and was shelved for most of the season due to injury while Gary Payton proved that his reputation of being “the Glove” was overrated to say the least.  To make a long story short, although the Lakers managed to reach the Finals that year, they were then simply embarrassed by an underdog Detroit Pistons and then completely disintegrated right after. Coach Phil Jackson resigned soon after, Shaq was later traded to the Miami Heat, Karl Malone remained a shattered mess forcing him to retire, and Gary Payton simply faded away into obscurity.  All that was left was Kobe Bryant and he was left to shoulder the blame and criticism as the Lakers stumbled through the next three seasons missing the playoffs in 2005 and getting eliminated in the first round in the following two seasons.  It seemed as if the Lakers would continue the trend in 2008, until they received mana from heaven in the form of Pau Gasol which later resulted in LA reaching the Finals three years in a row, winning two of them.  Now the Lakers are in similar situation as they were in 2004 with an aging and deteriorating roster on the verge of collapsing once the season ends. Even though the names and faces have changed, it is more than likely that history will repeat itself leaving Lakers fans deflated and on the verge of watching another painful rebuilding period yet again.