Lakers News: ESPN Experts Predict Where LA Will Finish in the West

The Lakers find themselves in familiar territory according to ESPN expert predictions

With the talent the Lakers had last season with LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook, there was little surprise to the commotion and championship aspirations for the team. As we all know, the results were the exact opposite.

The Lakers inevitably had a failed season, finishing with a 33-49 record and failing to make the play-in tournament. Calling it a disappointing season would be considered an understatement with the caliber of talent at the top they had. 

With that in mind, the Lakers will look to take a different approach this season with the hiring of Darvin Ham as head coach and will still look to add some new talent to the roster before the start of the season.  

For ESPN's NBA Insiders predictions for the upcoming season, the Lakers find themselves in the play-in once again, finishing ninth overall with a 42-40 record. The Lakers don't want to be in the play-in and want as many chances as they get so the hope is to have them finish in at-least the top 6. 

"The Lakers stumbled to a 33-49 mark a year ago as LeBron James, Anthony Davis and a slew of other players dealt with injuries while Russell Westbrook had to shoulder much of the load -- and the blame. The Lakers enter the new year with a new coach in Darvin Ham, and so far they've skewed much younger on their free agency additions."

It's a positive outlook as the Lakers don't seem to be done making changes, but it remains to be seen how well the new look Lakers will translate into wins.