The Western Conference isn't as scary as it seems for the Lakers

The narrative around the Los Angeles Lakers these days is that they’ve had a terrible offseason and that they won’t get much accomplished this coming season. While the former is true, the latter may or may not come to pass.

One argument more cynical fans and pundits have made against the Lakers having any real success is that the Western Conference will be much tougher this coming season. In their minds, a bunch of teams will be substantially better, leaving the Lakers to idle in the dust.

But a closer examination puts that claim in some real doubt.

In the 2023-24 season, the Oklahoma City Thunder claimed the top seed in the West with a 57-25 record. The Denver Nuggets were second with 57 wins of their own, and the Minnesota Timberwolves were third at 56-26.

After that, there was a considerable drop-off of sorts. The Los Angeles Clippers, who have been the darlings of the national media for most of the past five seasons and have often been overwhelming favorites to reach the NBA Finals, won a mere 51 games. The Dallas Mavericks, who did reach the finals, finished fifth with a 50-32 record.

Then came the Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans, both of whom took home 49 victories. The Lakers, of course, had the seventh-best record in the West at 47-35.

Here’s a look at who should be better, who should be worse and who will roughly stay put. As you will see, there is no one for the Lakers to truly fear in the Western Conference right now.