
It’s going to be a long offseason for the Lakers.
After an up-and-down season, L.A. found its groove in late February and reeled off 16 wins in 18 games to move itself near the top of the Western Conference. It appeared that Luka Dončić, LeBron James, Austin Reaves and Co. had finally figured out how to play together. The Lakers became a dark-horse NBA title contender, and it was fully believable. Then it came crashing down.