NBA Insider Reveals Serious Concern About Lakers’ Championship Outlook

The 48-30 Los Angeles Lakers are looking to tie the Celtics with their 18th NBA title this season.

L.A. submitted a total statement win on Sunday. The Lakers blew out the Western Conference's No. 1-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, in Oklahoma City, by 27 points, 126-99.

Five-time All-NBA First Team guard Luka Doncic, Los Angeles' prized new trade acquisition and best player, balled out, scoring 30 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the floor (5-of-11 from distance) and 3-of-4 shooting from the charity stripe, grabbing seven rebounds, dishing out six assists and swiping a pair of steals.

Final Stats 📊

Luka: 30 pts, 7 reb, 6 ast, 2 stl
AR: 20 pts, 2 reb, 3 ast
Bron: 19 pts, 3 reb, 7 ast
Dorian: 14 pts, 7 reb, 2 ast
Gabe: 12 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast
Rui: 11 pts, 7 reb pic.twitter.com/UK9xwFRajM
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 6, 2025

The Lakers are now tenuously in the driver's seat for the West's No. 3 seed, but every win is sacred. Just two games separate the Lakers from the No. 8-seeded Memphis Grizzlies. At 46-32, Memphis shares a record with the Golden State Warriors and the Minnesota Timberwolves, the conference's Nos. 6 and 7 seeds, respectively.

Los Angeles has two of perhaps the best 15 players in the league rostered in Doncic and a 40-year-old LeBron James, and one of the club's best "Big Threes" when you factor in Austin Reaves. But all of those players are minus defenders, and have struggled in their minutes together so far.

So can Los Angeles win it all this summer?

Kevin Pelton of ESPN thinks that the Lakers rank among the top eight teams with a realistic shot at hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy in June, but notes that one big X-factor could keep them from ascending the mountaintop: their turnover differential.

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"Integrating Luka Doncic on the fly since his February arrival has predictably caused turnover issues for the Lakers," Pelton observes. "The Lakers are 13th overall in avoiding turnovers but looking at the season's numbers are misleading given how different their roster looks compared to the start of the season. Since the All-Star break, the Lakers have the NBA's 10th-highest turnover rate on a per possession basis, according to NBA Advanced Stats, and the Nuggets are the only above-.500 team coughing it up more in that span."

Pelton notes that the Lakers' lackluster perimeter defense only compounds the trouble. Playing all of Doncic, James and Reaves big minutes can spell trouble along the wing.

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"The issue is exacerbated since the Lakers never forced many turnovers in the first place," Pelton writes. "(Their opponent turnover rate is largely unchanged since the break.) As a result, the Lakers have gone from essentially even in turnovers before Doncic's debut to committing 0.8 more per game since the break, eighth worst."

Pelton notes that two West opponents seem most poised to take advantage of the Lakers' turnover differential: the Thunder and the Golden State Warriors. Pelton adds that the Thunder create the most opponent turnovers in the league, and boast an astronomical turnover differential.

Since the All-Star break, Pelton reveals, Golden State has created more turnovers per possession than any team. The addition of six-time All-Star swingman Jimmy Butler has had a lot to do with that.

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