NBA News: Pundits Feel Lakers Remain Dangerous, May Surprise Top Seeds

The Los Angeles Lakers' chances heading into the playoffs may not be looking good, but it would be foolish to write off the franchise.

The Lakers would have to go through the play-in tournament, taking the long road with no telling how deep they can get in the postseason wars.

But for as long as the team has LeBron James around, they remain unpredictable and dangerous.

In a previous post, former NBA player David Magley cautioned that any team should be on guard if they end up facing the Lakers when he appeared on the Sports Bytes PH podcast last month.

“If they (Lakers) get into the playoffs, I don’t know if I want to play them. I don’t know if I want to play a LeBron James team ever in the playoffs, especially if they are the eighth seed,” the 62-year-old said.

Now, former Lakers center Shaquille O’Neal shared his thoughts as well, predicting that the Lakers will beat the Phoenix Suns if they secure the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference bracket.

"They will beat Phoenix. You heard me," he told NBA on TNT. "Because AD (Anthony Davis) will be back. Westbrook's been playing. All it takes is for certain people like that to just play good one or two games, and then they snap right back."

Given the opposite plights of the two teams, critics feel that the prediction is a bit of an insult to the Suns.

But if one dials back to last season, the Lakers have reason to face Phoenix with added motivation.

Phoenix is the same team that eliminated the Lakers last season in the first round of the playoffs in six games.

James and Anthony Davis were hurting last year, one of the reasons that the Lakers exited unceremoniously.

It seems almost the same situation right now although the two top stars are getting their fair share of rest and enough time to recuperate.

But the Lakers need to survive the play-in tournament first and then worry about the playoffs next.

It won’t be easy, but James and Davis being sidelined and preserved somehow indicate the Lakers want both ready by the time playoff time comes.