Anthony DavisLebron JamesRui Hachimura

Have the Lakers saved their season?

It’s never been easier to write off a LeBron James-led team. The Los Angeles Lakers have suffered through injuries and brutal inconsistencies on their way to a 22-25 record. They continue to put out a roster with laughable depth and even more humorous late game shooting. It’s no surprise they rank 26th in three-point percentage.

However, Sunday’s action was the kind of day that James supporters pound the table for. At some point, on a team full of veterans, a switch will be flipped. Against the Portland Trail Blazers, they did just that.

Down 25 at half, Los Angeles needed a strong showing from their cast of characters. They got one. James and point guard Dennis Schröder put on an offensive clinic. Patrick Beverley, the most annoying defender in basketball, stopped Damian Lillard’s watch, delaying Dame Time for another night. They outscored the Trail Blazers 40-20 in the third quarter, and finished the comeback with a 35-21 fourth quarter. In what was more of a charging comeback than a crumbling collapse, Los Angeles stunned their Western Conference foe.

Beverley was seen mocking Lillard, a luxury reserved for those that are…y’know winning. The Lakers have their swagger back, and they have the top-end talent to turn their season around.

Why did the Lakers trade for Rui Hachimura?

Most teams a handful of games under .500 don’t consider them buyers in the weeks before the trade deadline. On the other hand, a team headlined by LeBron will perpetually live in the win-now window. Missing the playoffs means wasting a year of the greatest basketball player of all time’s career. It etches you in the history books as a disappointment.

Trading for Washington Wizards power forward Rui Hachimura allows them to build on their veteran core without mortgaging the few assets they have left to trade. Kendrick Nunn and a few second-round picks don’t show up on the Richter scale.

At a discount, the Lakers acquired a former ninth-overall pick, who’s only approaching his 25th birthday. Hachimura may not have lived up to the expectations his draft stock suggested, but it’s hard to blame him. Can you name his best playmaking guard from his days in D.C.? 

Hachimura stands to benefit from James in particular on the offensive side of the floor. Playing with perhaps the most impressive playmaker of the century is going to get you open looks, especially when said playmaker is a physical freak who loves drawing attention to himself in the paint. Elsewhere, his size can be optimized to finish at the rim. Finishing pick-and-rolls and cutting when attention is diverted to the two aliens on the floor.

Defensively, there’s hope for Hachimura, who has posted 0.3 Defensive RAPTOR per 538. His size has lent itself to potential, but it’s fair to say it’s an aspect of his game that has lagged behind in development. With Davis on the floor, he’ll never have to guard the best big man. James is still a productive defender when he needs to, and Beverley isn’t going to allow guards to take him out of position.

This is a near ideal fit for a team on the verge of turning it around. Currently the 12th seed in the West, they remain a game out of the play-in and only two games out of the sixth seed. Los Angeles is only four games out of the fourth seed! In a tightly contested conference filled with teams that haven’t done it before, there will be opportunities to make a legitimate playoff run. 

Right now, I like their +110 odds on DraftKings to simply make the play-in tournament. There’s a chance they play themselves past it, but plus money on a bet that projects a modest improvement seems valuable to me, especially when a $100 bet can net $110 in profit. If you’re in on the Lake Show, be sure to use DraftKings’ promotion for Bet Basics readers: BET $5 GET $150 IN BONUS BETS.

BASIC TIPS

This article features a futures bet, which is a type of wager set on a more distant outcome than a quickly-approaching game. This includes things like making the playoffs, winning the championship, winning an award, or leading the league in a particular statistic. Identifying the proper time to place a futures bet is vital. Odds can swing wildly and quickly, meaning news breaking can deteriorate the value a line once held. However, operating without enough information can leave you donating money to your local sportsbook.

author
Anthony Licciardi
Sports Journalist
Anthony Licciardi is a long-suffering fan of the New York Mets, Jets, and Knicks. He aims to build a smarter generation of sports fans and writes to distract himself from the daily happenings of his favorite teams. In his spare time, he’s knee deep in Google Sheets looking for some statistical edge on coming betting action. With former bylines at Pro Football Network, Cowboys Wire, and Around The Block Network, Anthony has experience wri
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