You hit the nail on the head with the injuries, but are you really expecting Davis, a man in his prime, to play less games than a nearly 40 year old LeBron James? That in itself shows the dire situation the Lakers are faced with. They need to get rid of Anthony Davis for the good of the team. I get that can't happen now because you have to cross your fingers and hope you'll get a healthy LeBron James and Anthony Davis going into the playoffs, but what do you think the odds of that are? It makes you think maybe Kawhi Leonard is on to something. How long until other teams just don't play their stars until the playoffs?
My expectations regarding LeBron and Davis are based on stats from previous seasons. Davis has never played a full season (82 games) in his entire career. Besides, the trend over the last few seasons is that if he plays at least half a season, it's an accomplishment for him. For example, he played only 36 games in the 20/21 season, 40 games in the 21/22 season, and 56 games in the 22/23 season. So yes, I expect this trend to continue next season, and Davis will likely miss more games than the aging LeBron.
But the good thing is, even if Davis misses half of the regular season, the Lakers will still make it to the playoffs. I think it's better that way, with Davis missing some games in the regular season but being 100% available in the playoffs, as playoffs matter the most.
The Lakers already have a strong defense and are a good rebounding team. The only problem is their consistency on offense; they seem to lack confidence in their outside shooting, resulting in a low percentage beyond the arc. This mistake has haunted them throughout the playoffs, especially against the Nuggets, who are a good outside shooting team.