EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The Los Angeles Lakers don’t like to linger on the wrong side of a championship. Simply making playoffs doesn’t matter to them.

It’s true for a franchise with 17 title trophies tucked under its arms: Any season that doesn’t end with a title falls somewhere between a waste of nine months or, in a really unfulfilling season, a mere seven.

So it wasn’t surprising when Rob Pelinka shook up a roster that was eliminated in the first round of last season’s playoffs. The Lakers’ general manager shipped out three core players to bring in Russell Westbrook, an often-misunderstood superstar who found himself on his fourth team in as many years. Then came a deluge of free-agent signings to orbit around LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Westbrook.

Rarely have the Lakers undergone a season-to-season makeover this extreme as they go into Tuesday’s season opener at home against Golden State. The experts’ predictions reflect it.

Most Vegas oddsmakers have the Lakers making the NBA Finals before losing to the Brooklyn Nets. On the other hand, the data-crunching website fivethirtyeight.com wasn’t as confident: It gives the Lakers only a 4% chance of winning the Western Conference and a 2% chance of earning an 18th championship.

Maybe their combinations and permutations don’t like that only three Lakers players were on the team six months ago. Or maybe the computers didn’t appreciate the age factor — the Lakers are one of the oldest NBA teams of this generation. Nine of their players are 32 or older on a team that could politely be called “experienced.”

“There’s just a newness to our group that’s going to be there,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel acknowledged Monday, adding that big-picture patience would be key. “We’re motivated to be a great team.”

It doesn’t help that the injury bug has already nibbled at the Lakers. Veteran forward Trevor Ariza — a possible starter — is out until December because of ankle surgery, and Talen Horton-Tucker — one of the few young Lakers — is also likely shelved until December because of a torn thumb ligament.

The hit to early-season depth is a blow to the Lakers, but then again, they’re all about star power — a mantra that hasn’t changed since Jerry Buss bought the team in 1979 along with the Forum, the NHL’s Kings (which he later sold) and a ranch in the Sierra Nevada for $67.5 million. (The Lakers were recently valued by Forbes at $5.5 billion, the third-most valuable NBA franchise behind New York and Golden State.)

All three Lakers megastars will have chips on their shoulders this season.

Westbrook, who turns 33 next month, has been to the NBA Finals only once — unsuccessfully in 2012 with Oklahoma City. This could represent his last good chance at winning a title, and it would come in the city where he attended high school (Leuzinger in Lawndale) and college (UCLA).

Westbrook is a human blur, even at his age. He gets from one end of the court to the other as fast as any teenager in this year’s draft. It’s no surprise that his team last season, Washington, led the NBA in pace. The Lakers were a substantially more pedestrian 21st in the category, often content to hang out in halfcourt sets. That will change.

Westbrook committed a few too many turnovers in his preseason appearances, but again, it’s preseason with a new team.

“The turnover stuff is on me,” he said last week after a two-game rush in which he committed 16 turnovers. “Easy fix, though. Very easy…just timing. Guys getting used to my speed, my pace, my timing, where I’m at on the floor.”

Many eyes will be trained on how Westbrook adapts to his new team, in particular a ball-dominant teammate in James.

“It’s gonna be a big part of who we are and it’s been really good early on,” Vogel said of the on-court relationship between the two. There were miscues, Vogel added, nothing surprising for two new high-volume teammates, “but I think their chemistry on the court looks really good together so far.”

As the Lakers went a dominant 16-5 during the 2020 championship run, Davis squashed the injury-prone labels that gathered at his feet most of his career. He missed only nine games and was a force on offense and defense.

Then came last season. He missed 36 games, exactly half the regular season, mainly because of a strained calf. Then he injured his groin in Game 4 of a first-round playoff series against Phoenix. The Lakers had a 2-1 series edge at the time but didn't win another game. Their season ended with a whiff.

Determined to beat back any whispered resurgence of the injury label, Davis added muscle to his body during the four-month off-season.

Then of course there’s the eternally young James, who turns 37 in December. He led the MVP race on plenty of ballots past the midpoint of last season, but was injured in March and ended up missing 27 games as the Lakers dropped steadily in the West standings. Voters would undeniably appreciate someone who averaged 25 points and 7.8 assists in their mid-30s. They frown upon too many missed games and a team that finishes seventh in its conference.

James would happily hand back his four MVP awards for another championship. He has four of the latter and is continually driving to add a fifth to his collection.

“You win a championship, and everything that you’ve put into that year just hits you all at once. And literally like a couple hours later, it’s, like, over. And the whole time you’re just trying to figure out, how can you get that motivation again?” James said as he entered his 19th NBA season overall and fourth with LA.

James then added a word picture — winning a championship is like an amusement-park ride. The roller coaster slowly gets to the top before the final drop, but then it’s over and you want to experience it again.

If the Lakers need more time together after an uneven 0-6 preseason, they get lucky with a smooth early-season schedule. Seven of their first 10 games are against teams expected to miss the playoffs. On top of that, 12 of their first 15 games are at Staples Center.

Preseason games don’t entirely matter, but there were two mildly disturbing trends on display this month — the Lakers turned the ball over too much and surrendered 118.5 points a game.

The team's interior defense looked fine with DeAndre Jordan, Dwight Howard and Davis, who are all capable shot-blockers and rebounders. But the perimeter defense needs to be stronger, an obvious need after so much attrition the last two years with the departure of Alex Caruso, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Danny Green and Dennis Schröder via trades or free agency.

Veteran swingman Kent Bazemore likely gets the first shot next to Westbrook in the starting backcourt, but Horton-Tucker could also factor into the mix when he returns.

The Lakers should score plenty of points. Start with James, Davis and Westbrook. Then add veteran forward Carmelo Anthony, who averaged 14.3 points and shot a commendable 40% from three-point range in a reserve role the last two years with Portland. Guard Kendrick Nunn showed he could do a little bit of everything in his first two NBA seasons, averaging 15 points with the Miami Heat before signing a two-year contract with the Lakers.

Whatever the Lakers become, it will take some time. Perhaps Davis said it best after a preseason loss last week to Phoenix.

“We want to be good, but we don’t want to skip steps,” he said. “You can't rush the process of what we’re trying to do and win a championship.”