How Lakers' Playoff Elimination Affects Philadelphia 76ers

After a splashy offseason with a questionable major trade, the Los Angeles Lakers are ready to package the 2021-2022 NBA season up and ship it away.

The Lakers were in a must-win scenario going into Tuesday night's game against the Phoenix Suns. As LA's 31-47 record had them placed 11th in the Western Conference, they were not only out of the playoff picture, but they were out of the NBA's Play-In Tournament as well.

A loss to the Suns would officially eliminate the Lakers from having any hope of playing in the playoffs this year. A win would keep their chances of cracking a spot in the Play-In for the second season in a row alive for at least one more day.

But the Suns weren't going to allow the latter scenario to happen. Despite solid efforts from Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis on Tuesday, the LeBron-less Lakers fell short of their goal and collected a 121-110 loss to Devin Booker and the Suns.

With that defeat, the Lakers picked up their 48th loss of the year and eliminated their chances of finishing any higher than the Western Conference's 11th seed.

After the Lakers wrap up their next three games against the Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Denver Nuggets -- they'll officially enter a critical offseason, and the entire league will be paying attention.

How LA's Shortcomings Affect the Sixers

Lakers head coach Frank Vogel has been rumored to be on the hot seat all season long. Vogel's recent lack of success put him on a short leash despite coaching the Lakers to a championship just a couple of seasons ago.

Unless the Lakers cracked the Play-In Tournament, made the playoffs, and went on a miraculous championship run, Vogel was more than likely going to be a name mentioned among coaches who might lose their jobs this offseason.

With the Lakers' job expected to be soon vacant, Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report hinted that anonymous league personnel had mentioned Sixers head coach Doc Rivers as a potential Lakers candidate.

"Doc Rivers, the Philadelphia 76ers’ head coach, is another active bench leader being mentioned by league personnel as a potential Lakers candidate. Rivers’ tenure in Philadelphia has also come into question of late, spurred by team president Daryl Morey’s deadline acquisition of James Harden and the mounting speculation that followed about a potential reunification with Harden’s former Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni."

Considering Rivers remains under contract in Philadelphia beyond this season, he would either have to be let go by the Sixers, traded, or resign himself in order to acquire the soon-to-be-vacant head coaching position out in LA.

All three scenarios are possible but unlikely. While Rivers has received his fair share of criticism during his short tenure with the 76ers so far, he earned himself a lot of credit after coaching them to the one-seed in the Eastern Conference last year and helping keep the team in the playoff conversation despite dealing with the Ben Simmons saga.

Barring a major early collapse in the playoffs this year, Rivers will more than likely get a third season in Philadelphia. However, if the Lakers' head coaching position truly does become vacant, it seems Rivers will be linked to it as long as it's open.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.

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