season.

There were rumblings inside about Walton’s coaching, which was raised publicly by team president Magic Johnson before the holidays. Ball suffered an ankle injury and was held to 47 games while Ingram developed a blood clot that ended his season after 52 games. By springtime, the Lakers were a shell of their opening night dreams and roster. The personnel moves made by Johnson the previous offseason provided mixed results, with Lance Stephenson and Michael Beasley proving especially useless. Then Johnson abruptly quit on the final day of the season. The club had no shooters, LeBron lost the will to play defense and for the sixth straight season the Lakers failed to make the playoffs, a haunting stretch for a club with 16 banners and a proud history ofthe Lakers could do after their failed push to sign Kawhi Leonard.

He also signed Cousins, initially hoping the big man, nearly two years removed from Achilles surgery, would regain his confidence and his game. But, ouch: Cousins never made it to training camp. He suffered an ACL injury during summer workouts and after surgery will likely miss the entire season. It was a major blow to Cousins -- again -- and a potential one to the Lakers. They do have JaVale McGee back. And then there’s Dwight Howard, on hand for a second tour, who suited up for four teams in five years since first leaving the Lakers in 2013. He’s certainly humbled, but can he help, or will he generate drama? That is the concern, and because