It has been a rocky 2022-23 NBA season, to say least, for the storied Los Angeles Lakers franchise.
The team has been riddled with injuries, internal drama, and a serious lack of consistency on the basketball floor.
However, a few brilliant moves at the NBA trade deadline by general manager Rob Pelinka has changed the course of the season for the purple and gold, with the Lakers now in the playoff picture and winners of three straight games.
The drastic turnaround for the Lakers has convinced Nick Wright of Fox Sports that this team can win it all this season.
"The Lakers are winning the whole thing. LeBron gets ring No. 5. AD reclaims the respect. … Nobody wants to play the Lakers." — @getnickwright pic.twitter.com/XNycIiDfAW
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) April 3, 2023
This is a bold take from Wright, as the Lakers have been playing well as of late but always seem to stumble once they have gotten momentum this season.
Besides the fact that the Lakers haven’t proven they can consistently play at a high level for long this year, the competition in the Western Conference will be challenging to overcome in a seven-game series.
Another critical factor for Los Angeles is the uncertainty of Anthony Davis and LeBron James staying healthy for an extended period.
Davis is currently playing at an MVP-caliber level and has essentially put this new-look team on his back, but injuries have been a persistent problem for the veteran forward-center, and if he goes down again, Los Angeles doesn’t stand a chance against the opposition.
It’ll be interesting to see if the Lakers can stay healthy while keeping up this level of play, as they’ll need to finish the regular season strong to avoid the Play-in Tournament, which would add more wear and tear on Davis and James.
NEXT: The Lakers Have Been Building A Strong Record Recently