The Los Angeles Lakers' defeat at the hands of the Golden State Warriors on Opening Night felt like more than just one loss in a long 82-game season. The contest seemed to further solidify the notion that L.A. has little chance to compete for the championship.

Just prior to their 123-109 loss against the defending champs, the Lakers had +2700 odds at FanDuel Sportsbook to win the 2023 NBA Finals. Los Angeles' odds moved to +3500 after the 0-1 start, a significant shift with 98.8% of the schedule still left to be played.

The game was out of hand early in the second half with Golden State going up by 20 points midway through the third quarter. Los Angeles' lack of shooters around LeBron James was glaring, and possibly a recipe for a second straight losing season.

"I think we got great looks, but it also could be teams giving us great looks," James told reporters Tuesday night. "To be completely honest, we're not a team that's constructed of great shooting. Truth of matter is not like you know, we [have] a lot of lasers on our team. We're not sitting here with a bunch of 40-plus [percent] career 3-point shooting guys."

James finished the game with 31 points on 12-of-25 shooting to go along with 14 rebounds and eight assists. The rest of the team shot 41.2% from the field and went 7-of-30 from 3-point range. The Lakers' four other starters missed 12 of their 14 3-point attempts.

For years, the formula to win with James has been to surround him with players that can defend and make 3-pointers at an above-average rate. The Lakers have done the exact opposite for much of James' tenure in Los Angeles.

On their way to a 33-49 record last season, the Lakers shot 34.5% from 3-point range and made 12.0 threes per game. Both of those numbers ranked in the bottom half of the league. A look at Los Angeles' roster suggests that those ranks won't improve this season unless the team makes a notable trade.

The Lakers gave up a couple of their best 3-point shooters from the 2020 championship team in the Russell Westbrook trade. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope made 39% of his threes for the Washington Wizards a season ago. Kyle Kuzma shot 36.1% on his threes in the season before being traded from Los Angeles to Washington.

Lonnie Walker started in his Lakers' debut Tuesday after shooting just 31.4% from 3-point range for the San Antonio Spurs last season. Patrick Beverley was a 34.3% 3-point shooter last season, and he's out of position with Westbrook in the same starting lineup.

Los Angeles' bench is among the weakest in the league. Matt Ryan and Wenyen Gabriel, a pair of 25-year-olds who only have 282 total career points, received 26 combined minutes off the bench. Austin Reaves, who was a 31.7% 3-point shooter as an undrafted rookie, saw 16 minutes of action. Juan Toscano-Anderson and his career 4.8 points per game played 14 minutes.

Anthony Davis finished with 27 points, six rebounds and no assists. Davis and Westbrook rank as two of the least efficient jump shooters of the last two years, and they somehow seem to be getting worse.

If the Lakers continue to struggle scoring, the calls to pull the trigger on the much-talked about proposed trade for Buddy Hield—even if it includes two future first-round draft picks—will get louder.

Thirteen teams have better championship odds than the Lakers.

LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts during the 3rd quarter of the game against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center on October 18, 2022 in San Francisco, California. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images