Puzzlingly Poor LeBron James Metric Actually Good News for Lakers in NBA Playoffs

Plus/minus isn't a perfect measure of a player's impact, of course, as there are four other teammates on the floor with said player at any given time and five rotating players on opposing teams, all of whom vary in talent. 

That said, the Lakers own the fourth-best odds to win the NBA Finals this postseason, per ESPN BET, and James is typically the most productive or second-most productive player on the team each night, per traditional counting statistics. 

Los Angeles's acquisition of Luka Doncic via a mid-season trade with the Dallas Mavericks has clearly risen the team's ceiling, though Doncic returned to the floor in February after a six-week absence due to a calf injury. As such, Doncic has only produced a handful of game outputs on par with his typical dominance over the last six NBA seasons. 

All of that points to Lakers players like Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and others having outsized impacts on L.A.'s success down the stretch this season, which is potentially a good omen for the team as it enters the playoffs.