The Los Angeles Lakers have roughly as good a chance at squeezing into the playoffs as Dwight Howard has at getting a statue outside of Staples Center. And seeing as a decent portion of those healthy players remaining have contracts that don’t go beyond this season, concern that they might operate only in their own interest is well-founded.
Even those under contract beyond the end of this year are still fighting to convince the Lakers that they should remain for the entirety of the LeBron James era. We already saw the front office attempt to trade basically the entire roster for Anthony Davis, and all signs and logic point to them probably trying to do so again this offseason.