Lakers: 5 Bold Los Angeles Player Predictions For 2023

Including the fates of some of the team's pricier players.

In the spirit of the new year, we here at All Lakers have decided to make five fearless predictions for the fates of some of your Los Angeles Lakers. 2022 the calendar year was marked by two halves of disappointing basketball seasons for two very different-looking star-studded LA squads. 

This club seems destined to look quite different in the second half of 2023 one way or another.

Let's dive in:

1. Russell Westbrook will not finish the calendar year as a Laker.

Brodie's $47.1 million expiring maximum-salaried contract has been floated in a variety of possible trades this season. Even if the former nine-time All-Star point guard, now making waves as the Lakers' sixth man, is not dealt away this year, he will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer. His performance and willingness to buy-in to the new role player gig seems to have endeared him to the rest of the league, and he could have his pick of new destinations at a solid eight-figure annual fee.

2. LeBron James will demand a trade.

Now 38, King James isn't exactly interested in taking his sweet time when it comes to title contention, and he said as much last week. Assuming the Lakers front office decides to not pursue making an in-season deal to improve the club, or even if they do, it's tough to see these Lakers having a good enough roster to effectively do battle against younger, deeper, star-studded clubs like the New Orleans Pelicans, Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies. James has never requested a trade before, opting instead to generally ink short-term free agent deals so he can pressure his teams' front offices to make moves. That may have to change this summer.

3. Anthony Davis will miss at least 15 straight games at some point.

This has become one of the NBA's most reliable realities.

4. Lonnie Walker IV will get a raise.

Like fellow role playing swingman Malik Monk before him, the 23-year-old Walker seems poised to capitalize on a career-best season for one of the league's premier franchises, which gets a lot more national TV airtime than the club that drafted him (the Charlotte Hornets for Monk, the San Antonio Spurs for Walker). The 6'4" wing is averaging a career-most 14.7 points on .455/.384/.875 shooting splits, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists for the Lakers. He'll be a free agent this summer.

5. Kendrick Nunn will never get a fully-guaranteed NBA deal ever again.

Nunn, who inked a two-year, $10.3 million deal with the Lakers in 2021, missed the entirety of his first season in LA due to a bone bruise in his knee. Since returning to the team "healthy" this season, the 6'2" combo guard has fallen to the fringes of Darvin Ham's rotation, unable to recapture the same shooting magic he was able to achieve during his first two seasons in the league with the Miami Heat. As essentially an undersized shooting guard who can't shoot or defend and is now "injury-prone," Nunn will be hard-pressed to get anything better than a non-guaranteed "prove it" kind of deal next year.