I doubt all the rumors and news stories while the Lakers were trying to trade for AD helped the team. It had to have seriously damaged morale and team cohesion. There was one game where the fans were taunting: "Lebron's gonna trade you" when some of the Lakers were at the free throw line.
The 2018-2019 edition of the Lakers look to be in the toilet for the rest of the year.
I read a stat somewhere that if the Lakers are going to make the playoffs, from here on out they have to win 3 out of 4 games to do it. The loss to the Suns indicates that they’re not going to the playoffs.