The Los Angeles Lakers were riding high entering the 2025 NBA Playoffs, securing the third seed in a loaded Western Conference after acquiring Luka Doncic at the trade deadline.
However, the Lakers drew the Minnesota Timberwolves who ended the 2024-25 season as arguably the hottest team in the league. While Los Angeles was favored in the series, Minnesota wound up proving to be a terrible matchup for them as they stifled their offense and wore down their defense with their size and physicality.
The Lakers were eliminated in five games, a disappointing result for a team that felt like it had a real chance to compete for a title. Now, Minnesota will advance to the next round while the purple and gold will get a head start on preparing for the draft and free agency.
Lakers legend Magic Johnson was disappointed to see his former team lose in the playoffs, but still congratulated the Timberwolves organization for advancing in the postseason, via his personal X account:
Congratulations to my good friend Minnesota Timberwolves owner Alex Rodriguez, superstar Anthony Edwards and the entire Minnesota Timberwolves team for beating my Lakers and advancing to the next round. The reason the Lakers lost was because they played awful on defense, they…
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 1, 2025
Johnson’s reaction echoes the sentiments from the Lakers’ fanbase as it was clear throughout the series that they didn’t have the personnel to hang with the Timberwolves. Minnesota’s collective size across every position presented problems for Los Angeles and the latter had no answers given the roster construction.
The Lakers had to figure things out on the fly following the Doncic trade, but president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka has already said the team will look to add more size at the center position this offseason. He also said the team would be aggressive trying to add to their defensive core of wings, encouraging statements and appropriate responses to their playoff exit.
It’ll be difficult to find players who address all the needs on the roster, but Los Angeles needs to turn over every stone as their window to compete for a title with LeBron James is quickly closing. The Lakers are heading toward another eventful summer and it’ll be interesting to see what happens.
JJ Redick says Lakers need to get in championship shape
Head coach JJ Redick didn’t take any moral victories after his first year on the sidelines. Instead, Redick immediately emphasized the Lakers need to get in championship shape this summer to get to where they want to go.
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