Lebron, Luka, and Austin only played 29 games together this season (560 mins) and still ended up with a better record (53-29) than last year.
For comparison, they played 21 games (423 minutes) last year, the year Luka was traded for a bag of chips.
Despite all that and being plagued with injuries from their starters, the Lakers have been better this season compared to last year’s.
Before the season started, ESPN and other sites have projected them to win about 44-47 wins.
JJ and the coaching staff deserves praise for what they were able to do despite having a very flawed roster.
Source: https://www.espn.com/nba/team/_/name/lal/los-angeles-lakers