LeBron James is losing to Father Time, and the Lakers are cooked

The Los Angeles Lakers’ first 14 games provided a fleeting moment of hope that perhaps a new head coach really could fix all their problems. Since then, the Lakers have descended into the cold reality of their long-time mediocrity, slipping down the Western Conference standings as the fabric of the team appears to be coming apart at the seams.

There is no way LA can get out of this through internal measures. The Lakers, as presently constructed, are not a good basketball team, and there isn’t a magic fix for what amounts to years of roster decay.

The Lakers were humiliated again on Wednesday night, losing to the Miami Heat, 134-93. It was the eighth-worst loss of the last 47 years for the franchise, but blowouts are also quickly becoming the norm. The Lakers have lost by 25 points or more four times in the last 12 days. The team’s 3-0 start and the early MVP hype around Anthony Davis feels like a distant memory right now.

The Lakers are bad for many reasons. Their defense is an affront to our beautiful game, with complete lapses in effort and attention like this one becoming commonplace.

The Lakers are 27th out of 30 teams in defensive efficiency, and they’re slipping closer to last place after every game. The transition defense is particularly awful, ranking dead-last in the league, per Cleaning the Glass. It’s gotten so bad that even Davis has given up on his dream of winning Defensive Player of the Year.

LA is, once again, a terrible shooting team. The Lakers rank No. 25 in three-point rate (percentage of field goal attempts from three) and No. 20 in three-point percentage. The NBA average for three-point percentage this season is 36.6 percent. LA’s top three players in three-point attempts all shoot under that mark, and Gabe Vincent and Max Christie — who are supposed to be this team’s bench shooters — are each under 28 percent from three on the season.

Availability for LeBron James and Anthony Davis is typically the Lakers’ biggest concern. Not this season: LeBron has played every game, and AD has only sat out one. Lakers games are already so ugly with both stars in the lineup that it’s amazing to consider how bad this could get if and when they start missing time.

The Lakers have already started calling each other out in post-game press conferences. New head coach JJ Redick and the two veteran superstars have done a nice job taking accountability so far, but it seems like there’s a new quote fit for a meme template every night:

By the way, LeBron James turns 40 years old in three weeks. For the first time in his career, it feels like he’s finally losing to Father Time.

LeBron has always tried to win the GOAT debate on longevity. He’s made a hell of a case for himself: no player in league history has had a longer run of dominance. He’s played nearly 500 more games than Michael Jordan in his career, and he’s performed at an All-NBA level basically the entire way. James proved during the Olympics that he can still turn it up when it really counts. Hell, he’s done it this season, carrying this flawed Lakers team to several wins they had no business getting.

There’s also no denying the fact that LeBron James is finally starting to slow down. He doesn’t just play with the same motor, the same zest on the court that he’s always possessed. The numbers are getting brutal.

It’s no secret that James has been in a big shooting slump this year. After hitting a career-best 41 percent from three last year, James is down to 34.2 percent from three this year, and finally broke a streak of 20 consecutive missed threes vs. the Heat. Perhaps not coincidentally, James said coming into the season that he wanted to play all 82 games. When your legs get tired, the shot starts to go, and it feels like that’s what’s happening. Even Redick is starting to push back on James playing every game.

The bigger issue from James is that he has to rely on his jumper now because he doesn’t have the same quickness going to the rim. James is only taking 40 percent of his field goal attempts at the rim this season, per Cleaning the Glass, which is his lowest mark since 2010-11. He’s currently converting 69 percent of his shots at the rim. He’s only been below 70 percent finishing at the rim three times in his first 21 seasons.

It’s been more than five years since LeBron’s “Washed King” tweet. A few months later, he led the Lakers to the NBA championship inside the bubble. James can still play as well as anyone in the league outside of Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo … for short stretches. But his days of dominating every night and carrying his team through the playoffs just seem like they’re over.

The Lakers’ downfall is not James’ fault. A historic talent like LeBron deserves to play on better teams that can compete for championships in the twilight of his career. Instead, the Lakers have held onto some future draft picks and gone horribly cheap in free agency.

The Lakers could still use a trade or three. They’ve long felt like the most reasonable team for a Zach LaVine trade, and the reality is it won’t cost much to get him from the Chicago Bulls. LaVine’s contract is still viewed as onerous around the league, but there’s no denying that he’s playing at an All-Star level this season:

LaVine’s Bulls teammate Nikola Vucevic could also be a fit for the Lakers, and maybe even a deep bench reserve like Torrey Craig. The Brooklyn Nets also have a number of players who could help the Lakers. Dorian Finney-Smith and Cam Johnson would each provide some much-needed size and shooting. Do the Lakers want another go-around with Dennis Schröder?

The fact of the matter is that teams are about to start tanking hard for Cooper Flagg. The Lakers benefitted from tanking a couple years ago when they swung a deal with the Jazz to bolster their depth that helped them reach the conference finals. That run took a lot of luck, and the Western Conference is so much better this season than it was then. If the Bulls or Nets don’t help the Lakers this year, the Wizards, Jazz, Raptors, or Trail Blazers could. I think it’s possible for some real help to come to the Lakers without the franchise needing to part with another first round pick, because teams at the bottom will want to prioritize their own draft position.

Between D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves, Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Max Christie, the Lakers have over $75 million in tradeable salaries. If they’ve learned anything this year, it’s that a coaching change can’t fix the structural issues with this roster. The Lakers need more defense, more shooting, and ways to score to that don’t involve hunting free throws. It isn’t unreasonable to think all of those players should be traded for new bodies who might fit better around James and Davis.

The Lakers’ net rating of -4.7 is 23rd in the league right now, even if their record of 12-10 overall still ranks 13th in the league. The Lakers are much worse than their record indicates, and there’s no coming back from this that doesn’t involve an outside move. If they don’t make several meaningful ones, it might be time to think about trading Davis, and fully launching into a post-LeBron rebuild. Having their 2027 first-round pick out the door (top-4 protected) certainly doesn’t help.

It’s getting grim for the Lakers. It sure feels like even darker days are around.