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I was optimistic when Kobe came back from his achilles injury. I have lost all optimism for this team since that time. "Championship concerns" should not be the mentality at this point. I still see people here worried about the Spurs and the Warriors, when in reality the team just needs to worry about getting their foot back in the door to the playoffs.

At this point I'd be happy with an 8th seed appearance. Just getting in the playoffs would feel like a great win for this franchise at this point in time. And these young guys are going to need playoff experience under their belt.

Where is your head at? I use to think, championship or bust. But I really think we need to be realistic right now and just try to get back in the playoff picture.

for a rebuilding team like us, 8th seed is a godsend.

People tend to forget we were .500 team b4 everyone started getting Injured start of the year.

I say we'll make the playoffs next year, whether or not we get that superstar player? which I hope we do as we need someone to help close games.

I can also see us facing GSW next year in the first round either 7th or 8th seed

Making the playoffs. It will boost our confidence and will give us experience. Try to win series as much as possible. Then after 2-3 years of being of being a regular playoff team, aim for the championship!

Making the playoffs is obviously ideal for the Lakers, especially after this year the incentive for being bad is gone.

Yet, let's be real and temper expectations. The team is really young and coming off back to back to back lottery seasons. I think in a few years we could be in the playoffs but until our younger players get experience and settle into defined roles (and Deng+Mozgod are converted into a real player), you should expect more sub 30 win seasons.

No thanks, I'd much rather be the worst team in the league. At least I would have the draft to look forward to as a means of rebuilding. Being stuck in purgatory without being able to contend nor being bad enough to get top level talent is really the worst position to be with. I'd feel terrible being a Mavs/Grizz/Bulls fan right now.

It just depends on what you think about the Lakers roster. If you believe you have your future core players whether its Russell, Ingram, Randle, Zubac etc etc., then you want to make the playoffs as soon as possible and let them grow with that experience. Kinda like what the Thunder went through in 2009 when they lost to the Lakers. That was their coming out party and became a contender.

Now if you think you have a roster of role players or good players but no future stars, then making the playoffs may just be a ceiling, which at that point you're probably better off being in the lottery hoping to land either a star through lottery luck or finding a gem in the mid to late lottery.

dontforget wrote:It just depends on what you think about the Lakers roster. If you believe you have your future core players whether its Russell, Ingram, Randle, Zubac etc etc., then you want to make the playoffs as soon as possible and let them grow with that experience. Kinda like what the Thunder went through in 2009 when they lost to the Lakers. That was their coming out party and became a contender.

Now if you think you have a roster of role players or good players but no future stars, then making the playoffs may just be a ceiling, which at that point you're probably better off being in the lottery hoping to land either a star through lottery luck or finding a gem in the mid to late lottery.

My sentiments exactly. The playoffs would be nice....but you don't wanna take your eye off the prize. The playoffs are a great step toward bigger and better things. But it's just a step. Building a team to be 'playoff worthy' should not be the goal....ever.

I would love for this team to get to the playoffs next year. We had aspirations at the beginning of the year, starting off 10-10 but then injuries hit and we could never find our rhythm after that. The Timberwolves looked like they were about to capture that eighth seed. They made a great run after Lavine's injury. I want this team to do the same, especially after D'angelo Ingram and Zubac get full summers to work on their game.