The Los Angeles Lakers were largely expected to be a lottery team going into the 2017-18 season, but while head coach Luke Walton and the young core he’s been tasked with developing are unlikely to make the playoffs, they’ve still shown far more progress than many expected.
The Lakers have improved their defensive efficiency from the bottom of the league to 13th coming out the All-Star break. All the while, the team’s young core has shown signs of positive development on both ends of the floor throughout the season.
All of those things and more are reasons to be happy with the Lakers’ play thus far.