2018–19 Los Angeles Lakers season

The 2018–19 Los Angeles Lakers season was the franchise's 71st season, its 70th season in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and its 59th in Los Angeles.

Following the signing of NBA superstar and then 3-time champion LeBron James on July 1, 2018, the Lakers hoped to finish with a winning record and playoff appearance for the first time since the 2012–13 season. However, after an improved 20–14 start to the season, several injuries accumulated throughout the season including James, Rajon Rondo, Lonzo Ball, and Brandon Ingram, and the Lakers fell below .500 by the All-Star break. By March, the Lakers were eliminated from playoff contention, extending the team's postseason drought to a franchise record six seasons, and a sixth straight losing season, even after improving from their 2017–18 campaign by two games. It is the first time that James missed the playoffs since 2005 and first time he did not appear in the NBA Finals since 2010. This was the last time until 2022 that the Lakers missed the playoffs.

On April 9, the conclusion of the Lakers' season, Magic Johnson stepped down as president of basketball operations. Three days later, Luke Walton and the team agreed to part ways.

Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School / Club team
1	25	Moritz Wagner	PF	Germany	Michigan
2	39	Isaac Bonga	SF	Germany	Frankfurt Skyliners
2	47	Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk	SG	Ukraine	Kansas

^[1]

Roster

2018–19 Los Angeles Lakers roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From PG 2 Ball, Lonzo  6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1997-10-27 UCLA PG 17 Bonga, Isaac 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1999-11-08 Germany SG 35 Bullock, Reggie 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1991-03-16 North Carolina SG 1 Caldwell-Pope, Kentavious 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1993-02-18 Georgia SG 4 Caruso, Alex 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 186 lb (84 kg) 1994-02-28 Texas A&M C 5 Chandler, Tyson 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1982-10-02 Dominguez HS (CA) SG 3 Hart, Josh  6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1995-03-06 Villanova SF 14 Ingram, Brandon  6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1997-09-02 Duke SF 23 James, LeBron  (C) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1984-12-30 St. Vincent–St. Mary HS (OH) SF 10 Jones, Jemerrio 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 174 lb (79 kg) 1995-04-09 New Mexico State PF 0 Kuzma, Kyle 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1995-07-24 Utah C 7 McGee, JaVale 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 270 lb (122 kg) 1988-01-19 Nevada PF 31 Muscala, Mike 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1991-07-01 Bucknell PG 9 Rondo, Rajon 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 186 lb (84 kg) 1986-02-22 Kentucky SG 6 Stephenson, Lance 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1990-09-05 Cincinnati C 15 Wagner, Moritz 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1997-04-26 Michigan C 19 Williams, Johnathan (TW) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 228 lb (103 kg) 1995-05-22 Gonzaga

Head coach Luke Walton Assistant coach(es) Mark Madsen Jesse Mermuys Miles Simon Brian Shaw (Associate HC) Brian Keefe (assistant coach/player development) Clay Moser (assistant coach/basketball strategy) Casey Owens (assistant coach/advance professional scout) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended (GL) On assignment to G League affiliate (TW) Two-way affiliate player Injured Roster Last transaction: March 31, 2019

Roster Notes

• Point guard Lonzo Ball played 47 games (his last game being on January 19, 2019) but missed the rest of the season due to a Grade 3 left ankle sprain.^[2]
• Shooting guard Josh Hart played 67 games (his last game being on March 19, 2019) but missed the remainder of the season after having an ultrasonic debridement procedure on the patella tendon in his right knee.^[3]
• Small forward Brandon Ingram played 52 games (his last game being on March 2, 2019) but missed the rest of the season after being diagnosed with a deep venous thrombosis in his right arm.^[4] He underwent successful thoracic outlet decompression surgery on his right arm on March 16, 2019.^[5]

Standings

Division

Conference

Game log

Preseason

Regular season

Player statistics

After all games.^[6]
‡Waived during the season
^†Traded during the season
^≠Acquired during the season

Transactions

Signing of LeBron James

On July 9, 2018, superstar LeBron James signed a four-year, $154 million contract with the Lakers after playing a second stint with his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. He led the team to their first championship title in 2016, and led them to the NBA Finals 4 other times (2007, 2015, 2017, and 2018). This marked his second time leaving the Cavs, after controversially doing so in 2010 to join the Miami Heat, where he led the team to 4 consecutive NBA Finals appearances, winning back-to-back in 2012 and 2013. The signing also briefly intensified the Celtics–Lakers rivalry, as his former Cavs teammate Kyrie Irving was traded to the Boston Celtics the year before and when former Celtics star Rajon Rondo joined LeBron in Los Angeles. Irving played 2 seasons for the Celtics before signing with the Brooklyn Nets during the 2019 offseason.

Trades

Free agency

Re-signed

Additions

Subtractions

Player	Reason left	New team
Tyler Ennis[18]	Waived	Fenerbahçe
Thomas Bryant[19]	Waived	Washington Wizards
Julius Randle[20]	2-year contract worth $18 million	New Orleans Pelicans
Isaiah Thomas[21]	1-year contract worth $2 million	Denver Nuggets
Brook Lopez[22]	1-year contract worth $3.3 million	Milwaukee Bucks
Channing Frye[23]	1-year contract worth $2.4 million	Cleveland Cavaliers
Luol Deng[24]	Waived	Minnesota Timberwolves

References

This page was last edited on 8 January 2024, at 23:03