Former NBA champion says the Lakers won't make it past the second round

The Los Angeles Lakers are a bit of a mess right now. They’ve failed to keep up in the Western Conference and look far from the NBA championship contender they were supposed to be at the beginning of the season.

Lakers legends like Magic Johnson and Elgin Baylor have openly called out Frank Vogel’s team’s lack of effort. They’ve played subpar defense all year long and don’t have enough offensive rhythm to at least try and outscore their rivals.

That’s why former NBA champion Richard Jefferson believes that the Lakers can only dream of getting to the second round of the playoffs. That assuming they don’t meet theWarriors or Sunsin the first round.

Richard Jefferson Says The Lakers Can Only Get To The Second Round

“They can play better, they can get better,” Jefferson said on ESPN’s NBA Today. “They have been playing awful, I think everyone up here can admit that. So can it get better? Yes, it can. Are they ever going to get to a spot with this current roster that they can contend for the Western Conference or they can contend for a Championship? That answer is still no.”

“I think, at best, if this team got things going maybe they get to the second round and don’t have another first-round loss like they had last year,”Jefferson added. “What they don’t want to do is get into the play-in game, not be playing great basketball, then have to go against an absolute juggernaut in Phoenix or Golden State. That would be a first-round exit for them.”

That’s a tough pill to swallow for Lakers fans but it seems about right. Despite LeBron James’ great efforts, the team just doesn’t have what it takes nor enough time to turn this terrible and disappointing season around.