When LeBron James decided to join the Lakers as a free agent in July of 2018, he brought not only his four MVP’s and three Finals MVP’s, but a sense of confidence that L.A. would return to NBA prominence.

Unfortunately, a slew of injuries that sidelined LeBron – who was limited to a career-low 55 games – as well as several of his teammates were perhaps the biggest factors in taking the Lakers from the No. 4 seed in the West on Christmas Day to the No. 10 seed at season’s end (37-45).

James suffered a groin strain late in that Dec. 25 win at Golden State, and wouldn’t return for roughly six weeks, as L.A.’s playoff hopes took a big hit.

In a crowded West featuring many teams that returned largely intact from the previous seasons, the Lakers were already at a continuity disadvantage. They had a group of talented young players to go with veterans primarily signed on expiring contracts, theoretically to preserve cap space for the upcoming summer, all figuring out the best way to complement LeBron’s game.

Instead of improving as the season went along, the continuity suffered further when Brandon Ingram, presumed sidekick-to-LeBron, missed four games in October (suspension) and six in December (ankle) before his season ended on March 2 due to Deep Venous Thrombosis (DVT) in his arm that was surgically repaired on March 16. Ingram had been playing his best basketball of his career in the six games after the break, averaging 27.8 points on 57.0 percent shooting and 52.9 percent from three, plus 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 37.2 minutes per game.

Fellow No. 2 overall pick Lonzo Ball had just begun to find a nice offensive rhythm to couple his consistently excellent defense when he badly sprained his ankle on Jan. 19, the last time he appeared on the court. And with Josh Hart battling knee tendinitis from late December through his final game on March 19, and Ivica Zubac traded at the deadline for Mike Muscala, Kyle Kuzma was the only member of L.A.’s young core who stayed healthy through late March, when his season ended due to left foot tendinitis.

By way of impact on the team’s record, each of those injuries were significant, although none more than James. The 15-time All-Star had appeared in 95.1 percent of the 1,453 games in his 15-year career, including all 239 playoff games, so his injury was certainly not expected. Of course, the mileage on his legs after eight straight trips to the NBA Finals is certainly significant, but he does now get his first full offseason since 2005 to get his body primed for 2019-20.

Overall, the Lakers ranked 22nd in the NBA* in games lost to injury (192).

*According to the Smart injury database.

The offseason will be just as important for Ingram and Ball to get fully healthy, because when they shared the court with LeBron, L.A. went 15-8, good for a 65.2 percent win rate. Though it’s a smaller sample size, that 65.2 percent would have had the Lakers battling for a top four playoff spot alongside Denver (65.9), Portland (64.6) and Houston (64.6).

Coach Luke Walton, who mutually parted ways with the Lakers after the season before agreeing to become Sacramento’s head coach, emphasized effort on defense and pace on offense.

The Lakers finished the season ranked 13th in defensive efficiency; they were seventh when Ball got hurt in January, but just 23rd from that point onward. L.A. ranked 2nd in the NBA in both fastbreak points and points in the paint, and fourth in pace.

They really struggled offensively, however, ranking 23rd in efficiency, and 29th in 3-point percentage, free throw percentage and turnovers.

President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson – who stepped down from his role on the final day of the season – and GM Rob Pelinka tried to address the lack of shooting at the trade deadline by acquiring the aforementioned Muscala in addition to Reggie Bullock (in exchange for Svi Mykhailiuk and a second-round pick). Neither Muscala nor Bullock were able to find a real rhythm on offense, but neither were the bulk of their teammates, at least from a shooting perspective.

That included LeBron, who shot 33.9 percent from three, his second lowest percentage since 2010-11 … but he was an absolute star on the court nonetheless, and led the Lakers in scoring, rebounds, assists, made threes, made free throws and minutes.

James averaged 27.4 points (+0.2 on his career average), 8.3 assists (+1.1), 8.5 rebounds (+1.1), 1.3 steals (-0.3), 0.6 blocks (-0.2), 51.1 percent FG’s (+0.6), 33.9 percent 3’s (-0.4) and 66.5 percent FT’s (-7.1). He was fifth in the NBA in scoring and third in assists, and became the only player in league history to rank in the top 10 in scoring (fourth) and assists (10th).

Kuzma upped his scoring from 16.1 points as a rookie to 18.7 in his second season, and saw his passing improve to 2.5 assists per game up from just 1.8. He was in a 3-point shooting slump for much of the season, hitting only 30.3 percent after shooting 36.6 percent in year one. However, he improved both his shot selection and his finishing, and still managed to up his overall FG percentage as a result.

Of the several veterans on expiring contracts, JaVale McGee had moments of real success both early and late in the season, with his 12.0 points setting a career high, and rebounding and block numbers nearly matching his 2011-12 highs. Rajon Rondo was a true leader in the locker room, though his struggles on the defensive end contributed to a net rating of -8.4, second last on the team. Lance Stephenson competed consistently on both ends, and joined Rondo as two of only four Lakers to shoot over 35 percent from three, a surprise for two players who haven’t always shot the ball well from three.

Tyson Chandler was very impactful in November after he was waived by the Suns and opted to sign with the Lakers, before nagging injuries limited his effectiveness on the court as the season went on. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope struggled for much of the season until his minutes went way up with all of the late-season injuries to his teammates, and he averaged 23.8 points per game in April (11.4 on the season).

No. 25 overall pick Moe Wagner suffered early in the season with an injury that occurred in summer league that limited his playing time, before he was able to earn some minutes late in the season. No. 39 overall selection Isaac Bonga also played sparingly, but showed flashes of potential with his unique length at the PG spot.

The team’s relationship with their G-League squad, the South Bay Lakers, was quite fruitful once again, as two-way players Alex Caruso and Johnathan Williams were impactful towards wins especially late in the season. Caruso led the Lakers in net rating (3.3) for players earning at least 20 minutes per game. Meanwhile, late-season call-up Jemerrio Jones defended and rebounded his way to a net rating of 10.7 in his six games, albeit ones in which the Lakers were already out of the playoff race with little but pride to play for.

If there’s a benefit from L.A.’s difficult season, it’s the resulting lottery pick – projected to be the 11th overall selection – that was certainly unexpected at the start of the season. That, the return of a rested LeBron plus the young core and an absence of financial obligations to players that aren’t producing heading into the ever-important free agency period puts the Lakers in position to achieve in 2019-20 what they were unable to in 2018-19.