Power Ranking Lakers Roster Based on Regular-Season Performance

History will have two options for the 2021-22 Los Angeles Lakers: Either remember them as the NBA superpower that wasn't or forget about them entirely.

Their offseason gamble on Russell Westbrook was a bust. Their well-seasoned (see: old) roster was roughed up by the injury bug as much as anyone's. They still coaxed an MVP-caliber campaign out of LeBron James, but his supporting cast—including co-star Anthony Davis—failed to ever provide proper support.

As a result, the Lakers' season will officially end on Sunday, since the latest of their seven consecutive losses knocked them out of the play-in tournament.

To help retrace the steps of what went wrong, we'll rank the entire 17-man roster based on their on-court contributions.

Unranked: Kendrick Nunn

At one point, there were actual expectations for Nunn, who's the only player other than LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook and Talen Horton-Tucker making more than minimum money. But a bone bruise in the 26-year-old's knee kept him off the floor all season, so any lifts he could have provided as a scorer and shot-creator were merely hypothetical.

16. Mason Jones

A two-way contract recipient, Jones has seen just nine minutes of action across two games with the big league club.

15. Kent Bazemore

It's hard to say why Bazemore didn't pan out for the Purple and Gold, as his three-and-D game seemed tailor-made for a complementary role alongside L.A.'s stars. But once the 32-year-old—a starter for the season's first 13 games—lost his rotation spot, he never found a way to reclaim it.

14. Wenyen Gabriel

L.A.'s other two-way player, Gabriel has done a decent job providing some size and energy on the rare nights in which his number is called.

13. Trevor Ariza

Age seemed to finally catch up to the 36-year-old Ariza, who remained mildly helpful on defense but had a dismal year on offense (33.3 percent shooting overall, 27.0 from three).

12. Wayne Ellington

A shooting specialist, Ellington at least delivered on that end of the bargain by hitting 39.3 percent of his threes. But he didn't add enough of anything else to warrant consistent playing time.

11. D.J. Augustin

A March addition, Augustin has delivered his typical steady shooting (28-of-56 from range) and ball control (24 assists against eight turnovers), albeit with his normal defensive limitations as a 5'11" 34-year-old.

10. Talen Horton-Tucker

The Lakers had huge hopes for Horton-Tucker—an offseason recipient of a three-year, $32 million deal—and he fell short of virtually all of them. Still, his counting categories aren't terrible (9.4 points and 2.6 assists), and that's enough to get a top-10 spot on this team.

9. Stanley Johnson

Signed to a trio of 10-day pacts before getting a full-fledged deal, Johnson emerged as one of the team's most trusted stoppers. He also shot a career-best 47.4 percent from the field and hinted at perhaps finally figuring out how to finish around the rim (74.1 percent shooting inside of three feet, per Basketball-Reference.com).

8. Avery Bradley

L.A.'s roster forced Bradley into a bigger role than he should arguably fill at this stage of his career, but the 31-year-old paired his trademark plucky defense with one of his best splash rates from the perimeter (39.1 percent).

7. Russell Westbrook

The raw numbers will say this ranking is harsh on Westbrook (18.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.1 assists), but the advanced stats say it's actually generous. His 0.032 win shares per 48 minutes and minus-1.6 box plus/minus were both the worst of his career, per Basketball-Reference.com.

6. Dwight Howard

Stardom has never been further in the rearview mirror for Howard, but the 36-year-old has done a solid job of transitioning into a low-minute, high-energy support role. His 5.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 0.6 blocks won't jump off of the page, but they grow more impressive when considering he gets just 15.8 minutes per night.

5. Austin Reaves

An undrafted rookie who became a rotation regular, Reaves might have led the Lakers in exceeding expectations. His late-season benching was a head-scratcher, as his defense and energy made good things happen more often than not.

4. Carmelo Anthony

Anthony's defense unsurprisingly remains a mess, but his scoring is still razor-sharp. His 13.4 points per game tie for fourth highest on the team, and his 44.3/37.6/82.8 shooting slash is essentially right in line with his career 44.7/35.5/81.4 line.

3. Malik Monk

The Lakers didn't get a lot right last summer, but their minimum investment in Monk ranked among the offseason's best bargains. Already an ignitable scorer, the 24-year-old flashed previously unseen levels of consistency that yielded a slew of career bests, including 13.4 points, 2.8 assists and a 47.3 field-goal percentage.

2. Anthony Davis

Injuries effectively wrecked Davis' season, but he still dominated when he hit the hardwood. He leads the Lakers in rebounds (9.8) and blocks (2.3) and trails only James in points (23.2).

1. LeBron James

It feels wrong putting James in the same tier as anyone else, because he ranked several rungs above any of his teammates. He's the obvious No. 1, ranking among the Lakers' top two performers in—clears throat—points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and minutes.