The Warriors, Griz, and Mavs are locks to make the playoffs, but not the Lakers?
Terrible take
As I said, the Lakers are one of the oldest teams
ever, so everything is going to hit a little harder over the course of a 82-game season. They've already had a number of injuries and the regular season isn't even underway. A large majority of their rotation has either been sleep walking on defense for the last few years, or been completely non-existent. All that really comes down to effort, and
effort is one of the biggest factors in generating regular season wins. Nearly every single team they come up against, and in nearly every game-spot, they're going to be conceding that to their opponent.
Those teams are locks for mine because they need less to go their way to make the playoffs, and they have younger and more diverse personnel. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean they'll finish above the Lakers, I just trust them more to. The Lakers' chances essentially fall on AD, if he can play the majority of the season and do it at an All-NBA level, that'll put them in great position to make it, but if his body can't hold up, well, they'll struggle to keep pace.
I'm projecting the Lakers to fall between 5th-9th, are you telling me that they're a lock to finish in the top-4 teams?