How the Lakers can make the playoffs

The Lakers open the season on Wednesday night. Can the team get through the 2015-16 campaign with a playoff berth after winning just 21 games a year ago?

The answer is a very soft yes, and only if the following five items prove true:

1. Stay healthy

The Lakers lost more player games to injury last season than any other team in the NBA. Their 2013-14 campaign wasn’t much better.

The team simply doesn’t have enough mature talent and depth to overcome losing players for any significant amount of time, be it veterans like Kobe Bryant and Roy Hibbert or young, developing prospects like Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell.

Bryant will miss a number of games, specifically when the Lakers play on back-to-back nights. That juggling of the lineup could prove to be disruptive. Add in injuries to the mix, and the Lakers could struggle relatively quickly.

2. Rapid player development

Outside of the handful of experienced veterans, the Lakers are a young team, notably the 19-year-old Russell, selected in June’s NBA draft with the second overall pick.

Randle was injured on opening night last year, so while he’s not a rookie, he has all of 14 minutes logged in a regulation, regular-season basketball game.

Clarkson matured quickly last season, mostly while the team was losing night in and night out. He needs to show he can produce effectively for a winner.

Other young players include rookies Anthony Brown and Larry Nance Jr., Tarik Black and third-year forward Ryan Kelly.

While guard Marcelo Huertas is technically an NBA rookie, he’s an international veteran with years of experience.

The Lakers need their kids to grow up very, very quickly.

3. Resurgent individual seasons

For two straight years, Bryant hasn’t been healthy. After recovering from a torn Achilles, Bryant suffered a knee fracture during the 2013-14 season, followed by a shoulder injury last January that ended his year early.

Nick Young battled his hand and knee issues. When he was healthy, he struggled to play efficiently.

Newcomer Hibbert was formerly an All-Star with the Indiana Pacers, but the franchise fell on hard times last season, and Hibbert was traded away this off-season for a second-round pick.

Randle missed practically the entire year, and Kelly was more effective as a rookie than a sophomore.

The Lakers won’t succeed if just some of the players return to form; they really need them all to perform this year.

4. Basic luck

The Lakers haven’t had much luck dating back to their last NBA title in 2010. Injuries have played the biggest part in the team’s descent. This item goes hand-in-hand with the top priority of staying healthy.

Additionally, the Lakers need a fair share of breaks throughout the season — lucky bounces, buzzer-beaters, whatever the form.

5. Other teams stumble

Even if the Lakers see the first four items come to fruition, that’s still probably not enough for the franchise to return to the postseason.

The Lakers have talent, but other teams have more who are ready to contribute immediately.

Six should be locks to make the playoffs, in no particular order: the Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets and Clippers.

The New Orleans Pelicans already are dealing with a number of injuries, but All-Star Anthony Davis should be good enough to help carry his team to the top eight.

The Lakers need the bubble teams to fall on hard times, specifically the Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz. Upstarts like the Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets and Portland Trail Blazers are also talented, but like the Lakers, they are not necessarily playoff hopefuls (although they would all disagree).

Put the Lakers down for 36 wins for the season, an improvement of 15 over last year’s debacle. The eighth-seeded team in the Western Conference may need to get to 45 wins this season, with slightly more parity between the East and West.

If the Lakers are fortunate enough to meet all the criteria on this list, perhaps they’ll surprise with a playoff berth — but the safer expectation is the 10 to 13 range in the conference.

Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.

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