Forty games in the season, the 2023-24 Lakers aren't better than last year

Darvin Ham is in his second year as a head coach in the NBA at the helm of the Los Angeles Lakers, GM Rob Pelinka and the organization bet on continuity for the first time in the LeBron James and Anthony Davis era, brought back last season's core that made it to the WCF, the offseason signings gave more depth to the roster, still... the team isn't doing better than last season.

Last season the Lakers started the campaign with a roster that included the return of PG Russell Westbrook, the "biggest" offseason signing of Patrick Beverley, and role players like Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damian Jones, Thomas Bryant, and Kendrick Nunn.

This summer's signings were Gabe Vincent, Cam Reddish, Christian Wood, Tuarean Prince, and Jaxson Hayes, but the strongest case was for LA to bring back the core that made it to the WCF against the Denver Nuggets.

But after 40 games this campaign, the Lakers are with a 19-21 record, the same they had last season before the now famous moves that saved the campaign for the team. But this time around, there's a disconnect between the locker room and coach Darvin Ham that no trade will be able to fix.

The reason why D'Angelo Russell won't be traded from LA

According to Yahoo! Sports Jake Fischer: "Around the league, D’Angelo Russell’s $17 million salary has not been viewed as a valuable trade chip for the Lakers to bolster their roster behind LeBron James and Anthony Davis."