The changes that led Lakers to aspire for the title
The Lakers started 2025 as an irregular team and in the seventh place in the west, they are now in second place as a serious title candidate. What changed?
The regular season of Los Angeles Lakers It has been a roller coaster in terms of the positions occupied by the team in the table, especially in the 32 games they played in 2024.
At the moment they looked well and others descended to levels that generated doubts beyond their game. The start of three victories to thread was just a triumph in the next five games that catapulted him to tie the tenth place with a mark of four cattle and four lost.
Although he never had a loser brand, the team he directs JJ Redik He spent the months of November and December without the possibility of consolidating himself in an ascending spiral that would allow him to start climbing positions. The last day of 2024 found them in the seventh place in the West with 18 wins and 14 losses.
However, from January to the present day, the Lakers have not only won a place in the group of the best teams in the West Conferencebut also, from second place in the table, they illusion their fans of competing for the title.
Their advanced statistics confirm it: in the month of January they were the ninth best NBA team in Net Rating (offensive + defensive) with 4.6 points, but in February they managed to climb to sixth place (9.0) and in the two March games they find it among the four best with a rating of 15.4.
What have been the keys to improvement? What the reasons that have taken them to the second position in the west? Without a doubt, there is a lot of fabric where to cut, however, we will take care of listing the main ones (without the need to order them in order of importance) that make these Lakers look different from what was expected of them at the beginning of the season.
The influence of JJ Redick and his coaching staff
After failing in the attempt to hire Danny Hurley as the new brain of the team, the commitment to Redick was at least risky. It was someone with no experience directing that he aroused as many doubts as certainties to whom he was handing the keys of the kingdom.
However, Redick has not only showed a team, control the egos in the locker room, in addition to bringing freshness and creativity to the operation within the court.
The use of more plays prepared on offense, a good as a whole, successful rotations during the game and the orderly planning to face their rivals, have been their distinctive seal that has given excellent results.
Staff changes during the season
From the first games it was seen that D’Angelo Russell He had the days counted in the team. His defensive weakness (especially due to lack of commitment) did not fit the needs of the team and therefore was changed. Arrive Dorian Finney-Smitha 2.01 meter forward with a good three -point shot (40.2% success in this season) good defense and versatility, which gave the team another physiognomy.
The arrival of Luka Donciceven at the expense of losing Anthony Davis And a promise like Max Christie, ended up changing the face of a squad, both for the present and the future.
Luka is the new Marshal, who organizes the attack and the one whose main mission is to play the rest. He is the man who, despite reaching a new team and still looking for his best physical form, averages in his 9 games 22.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 1.7 robberies in 32 minutes on the court.
If we add to this that in the last two matches averages 12 assists and its effectiveness of triple is 44% against the 24.1% that registered in its first 7 games, everything indicates that, in case of nothing weird, the best thing is yet to come.
Rob Pelinka’s patience to find better possible change
That nothing of the negotiations for the change that brought Doncic to the Lakers has been leaked, it has been decisive for this present. Any rumor that would have circulated would surely have ended with the possibility of adding a generational talent like Luka.
The fact of not wasting its capital in Draft teams for adding players who could not necessarily help was another of Pelinka’s virtues. Until when something went wrong, like the failed attempt to add to the center of Charlotte Hornets, Mark Williams, ended up acting for the benefit of the interests of the team.
And finally, discover marginal talent at the price of two -way contracts such as Jordan Goodwin and Trey Jemison III, who may join the squad if they manage to release two current contracts (Len and Reddish?) Without exceeding the second platform of the salary stop, it can finish rounding the good management of the general manager of the Lakers.
The one of LeBron James At 40, it challenges any logic. Has become the first player of the NBA in exceeding 50,000 points between regular season. Exceeded the mark of the 1,000 victories in regular season. He has played 56 of 60 possible games. Averages 24.9 points, 8.0 rebounds and 8.5 assists in 34.7 minutes on the court per game. Its total effectiveness is 51.9% success with a triple percentage of 39.4%.
While it seems that there is no number that resists LeBron, the most important thing is not in statistics. The truly transcendent is his leadership capacity, his constant preaching with the example, his willingness to continue adding attributes to his recognized talent and, especially, his commitment on defensive matters.
His ease of adapting to Luka Doncic’s game, as well as the basis of knowing how to exploit everything LeBron brings to the team, makes this pair one of the most powerful of the competition. And without a doubt, the Lakers are taking advantage of it.
Conclusions
The Lakers seem to be back. They have won 20 of the 27 games played in 2025. At that time, they have climbed from the fifth place of the West Conference to second place in the positions.
Optimism grows, however, comes the final stretch of the season and from next Saturday they have four games off the Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets that can define if this team is to compete equally to anyone. From here at the end of the regular season, he is pending two games against Denver, two against Milwaukee, two against Houston and two others against Oklahoma City Thunder. As if that were not enough, they have one pending with Memphis and Golden State.
How far can they go? Playing predictions can be a double -edged sword, so it is better to wait before risking a prognosis. Anyway, something can be affirmed: more than one rival must be wishing not to have to face them in playoffs if this team continues to evolve in the way these renewed Lakers have done since 2025 began.
