5 Things: Been Awhile

Life has been crazy since a little after my birthday (11/8) and I haven’t carved out time to post 5ers. So thanks for your patience, folks. We square off against a Knicks team that has been playing really well, especially on defense, and the combo of Randle and brunson is meshing better and better. They have high impact role-players and tough-minded coach. Could be considered our ‘sister team’ in terms of overall identity except that our stars are better than their stars, usually.

1. Anthony Davis matters more than LeBron in terms of impacting overall winning. Don’t get it too twisted, LBJ still the King and scoring gets a lot more difficult without the gravity he creates simply by dribbling 35 feet away from the hoop, but on the other end the Lakers take a massive step back without Davis. If our last game against the woebegone Spurs didn’t prove that to folks I’m not sure what will. The SPurs handed us the business over the last 5 quarters we’ve played them starting with the 4th quarter of the game we won. Barely. Without AD stymying the Spurs in the paint and his ability to hedge and allow lesser perimeter defenders to close we couldn’t keep the Spurs from bombing away from distance. Add into that our rebounding woes (something both Hayes or Wood seem incapable of doing well) and we’re a terrible team on D when AD sits.
2. Developing youth while trying to win. This is always the issue with teams built around aging stars. The Warriors are going through it now, too. With a core pf AD and LeBron the playoff window is firmly open now. So how do you add development into that, especially when development in the NBA means on-court time during games that count towards making it in the playoffs? It’s a balancing act that even a decorated coach like lil Stevie Kerr struggles with as he faces the task of possibly phasing out banner winning players from their assumed roles in favor of younger, hungrier players albeit with far less polish to their games. So second year coach Ham certainly has a daunting task of figuring out how to get guys like Max Christie meaningful minutes to see what he can do at this level. In about 5 mor MPG than he played last season (which were generally garbage time minutes) his efficiency is down. He’s taking more shots (4.4 vs. 2.6) and making about the same (1.7 vs. 1.1, respectively) and coupled with his assist not ticking upward while his turnovers are and his overall lack of an impact on defense it’s easy to understand the chorus of lakers fans clamoring for more of an end of the bench role for Max. The issue of course being some young Laker at some point is going to have to stick besides Reaves. So, while I’m not championing an increased role for Max specifically, his deal is up and we’ll likely lose him to free agency (unless he’s a throw in for a trade that seems equitable to another team as a late first rounder/second round pick would be). The Lakers need to develop from within to get quality role players on cheap deals to augment our super star duo, there’s no way around it.
3. The vet minimum guys. We’re seeing what the NBA vet minimum gets us: guys like Wood and Hayes who have limited use on the court. Cam has stood out because, of the three, he seems to realize that his next deal will also be another vet minimum if he doesn’t find a way to be a contributor. Not everyone can be a star in the NBA. Everyone in the NBA was probably “the guy” on their various teams…until they got to the NBA. Then you go from getting the ball on most plays to being asked to box out and set screens, do the grunt work you used to get someone else to do for you. Cam, if he keeps balling out on D and making the open shots that come his way, will get a raise next summer. Hayes and Wood? I’m not so sure. Hayes looks like a high upside guy until you watch him not play with verticality (he starts well but that arm just can’t stop itself from reaching for the block) and Wood is streaky that his outside shot isn’t enough of a threat to create meaningful space. Teams will happily and gladly let Christian Wood try to beat us and since he’s neither a good defender or roll man he found himself at the end of the bench until injuries gave him an opening. We saw how that worked out in the 4th quarter against our “win” against the Spurs when they started attacking him and stormed right back into a game we should have controlled.
4. Austin Reaves off the bench. Of all the moves Ham has made this season this one has worked the best by a country mile. Reaves has not only found his offense torching other bench defenders but he’s making more and more plays for his teammates. If he could work on his defense and just get better at cutting off drives he’d be in the convo for 6th man of the year. He gamely tries to take charges but good defense is so much more than stats like that. Honestly, good defense generally doesn’t show up on the stat sheet and is often un-rewarded come contract time. Still, it remains THE key component of teams with banner aspirations and for Reaves it’s still a work in progress.
5. Should the Lakers make a trade? You guys know me, I’m Mr. Stand Pat and see how it works out. This season, given LBJ and AD’s age and the tools we have to work with in terms of draft capital going forward, I don’t see how we can’t and expect to get to the NBA Finals. The number one player I’d expect the Lakers to try and trade would be none other than D’Angelo Russell who has shown to be basically what he was as a laker. A streaky combo guard who has a limited impact on D. When he’s on he can be great. When he’s not we are left with a gaping hole in the backcourt. It’s not being filled by Max, and certainly not by “why did we pick this guy” JHS. Reaves and LeBron can’t fill it and so that leaves us with what could be available for a package built around DLO and likely Max in a trade. Complicating matters is that DLo’s deal isn’t an expiring one, he has a player option he’s pretty likely to pick up. While not a guarantee I don’t see his earning power as having increased this eason in a meaningful way. As a young player Max will be in line for a new deal (thanks Rob…) so the package isn’t really one based around salary relief. You have to want to want DLo and see something worth paying Max for to get anything other than some draft picks several years away. Those, while valuable, aren’t as compelling as what other teams can offer for prime talent. So we need to scour teams imploding who want to change things up without blowing it up. In my opinion those teams are the Bulls, Grizzlies (especially if they struggle when Morant comes back), Jazz, Trailblazers and Raptors. While I don’t think we have enough to offer for the prime talent on those teams there are players who are attainable in the price range we can meet. I expect us to deal with one, or more, of those teams as the deadline approaches. I also don’t see Gabe Vincent as viable trading chip until he proves he can play. He’s got two years left on his deal after this one, teams aren’t going to pay a guy to sit with a bum knee for that price tag for a couple of draft picks 5 years out.

Got to win tonight folks and get back on the right side of winning. Losing tonight probably knocks us back to the bottom of the playin. We need to stay in the top 6, hopefully fight our way into the top 3 or 4. Only way to do that is by beating quality teams and that’s something we’ve been pretty iffy on this season. So far.