At the beginning of the season, the Los Angeles Lakers were favorites to cruise through the playoffs and compete for the 2022 Finals.

During the offseason, the Lakers brought in Carmelo Anthony, Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn, Austin Reaves,Trevor Ariza, DJ Augustin, Dwight Howard, and more. What many LA fans were most excited about, though, was the signing of NBA superstar Russell Westbrook.

Many thought matching Westbrook with Anthony Davis and LeBron James would make the Lakers the best super team in the league. Somehow the Lakers have one of the greatest players of all time in LeBron James and they still managed to miss the playoffs. 

James, who was playing at an incredibly high level this season averaging 30.3 points per game, could not carry his star-studded team to even the play-ins.

So who’s to blame for the Lakers horrible season? En route to a 33-49 season, they were 2-8 in their last 10 games, and have just been playing horribly with the exception of LeBron. 

The Lakers have fallen off and have had to make difficult decisions. Monday morning, the Lakers fired Frank Vogel and will be on the lookout for a new head coach. Vogel, who coached the Lakers that won the 2019-20 NBA Finals, will be replaced with a new head coach. 

Russell Westbrook, who has been playing sub-par this season to say the least, has been averaging 18.5 points per game, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists throughout the season. Needless to say, Westbrook did not live up to his high expectations in Los Angeles. 

Anthony Davis, who was out for most of the season due to injury, has been playing decently, averaging 23.2 points per game, 9.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists. Do the Lakers still have what it takes to win another championship? Will the Lakers come back from this unbelievably horrible season? We won’t know until next season but for now the Lakers are going to have to rebuild and recruit a good head coach for next season and see if they can come back stronger. 

The Lakers should consider making some trades this offseason and maybe even trade Westbrook for Buddy Hield. The Lakers should do everything they can to keep AD and LeBron healthy next season and keep building around them. I believe the Los Angeles Lakers still have what it takes to make another run and make an attempt to make the playoffs next season if both their superstars stay healthy.