For a while, the 20-16 Los Angeles Lakers had looked pretty good following their trade to acquire small forward Dorian Finney-Smith and shooting guard Shake Milton from the Brooklyn Nets, for the low price of point guard D'Angelo Russell's expiring contract, little-used power forward Maxwell Lewis, and three future second round draft picks.
Most recently, however, the Lakers dropped their last two contests, before being forced to cancel a Thursday home clash against the Charlotte Hornets and Saturday home matchup with the San Antonio Spurs due to the continuing L.A. area wildfires.
Still, Los Angeles is the No.