On paper, the Los Angeles Lakers were one of the mightiest teams heading into the 2021-22 NBA season. However, it didn't take long for everyone to realize that they were not even close to the team people expected to see.
With less than a week for the regular season finale and just four games left, the Lakers' destiny this season is not in their hands anymore as two San Antonio Spurs victories would leave them out of the play-in tournament.
It's crystal clear that their offseason moves haven't gone according to plan, especially the trade for Russell Westbrook. Meanwhile, they have to see how the Chicago Bulls are heading to the postseason with a superb DeMar DeRozan, who came close to sign for the Lakers before they went after Westbrook.
Magic Johnson suggests LeBron is responsible for DeMar DeRozan not signing with Lakers
“The blame that he’s got to take is the fact that DeRozan ended up in Chicago and not with the Lakers," Johnson said on ESPN. "DeRozan wanted to play for the Lakers and when I got the call from his agent, [Aaron Goodwin], I called the Lakers, said, ‘Hey [DeRozan] wants to come home.' And DeRozan could have been a Laker instead of a Bull.
“We could’ve made that deal. But when Russell and LeBron started talking, that’s when they nixed that deal and went with Westbrook. And the thing with DeRozan is, you had the chance to keep the role players. Caruso, KCP, all those guys who are our best defenders, they left. And that's why we were a bad defensive team. But if you signed DeRozan and you only trade [Kyle] Kuzma for Buddy Hield, we would be playing in the Western Conference championship this year with those two guys.”
Well, things could have gone completely different if the Lakers had signed DeRozan. While Westbrook struggled throughout the entire campaign on both ends of the floor, especially when he shared the court with LeBron, DeRozan has posted incredible numbers for the new-look Bulls.
