Lakerholics

The Rob Pelinka apology train can’t add enough cars to carry all the purple and gold fans who want on after Rob surprised everybody with a series of brilliant trades that transformed the Lakers into possible title contenders.

While the Lakers face a challenge just to make the playoffs, their new-look starting lineup and rotations after the trade deadline have already made them the extremely dangerous team nobody wants to meet in the playoffs.
Frankly, Pelinka surprised everybody with a masterclass in roster building, getting six quality players who are great fits next to LeBron and AD for one lightly protected first round pick and six players the Lakers didn’t want.

But the question everybody should be asking is what’s behind the Lakers’ suddenly making smarter decisions? Is it as simple as Rob learning from the Westbrook mistake or Jeanie allowing Rob to make the big decisions?
Were the trade deadline moves isolated transactions or do they represent major changes in the Lakers’ future basketball philosophy and strategy? What’s the real story behind the Lakers making smarter decisions?

How could the front office that traded Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, and #22 pick in 2021 draft for Russell Westbrook and two second round picks suddenly start making smart decisions?
The answer is Rob and Jeanie learned, adjusted, and did a better job this time, prioritizing fit, depth, continuity, and versatility rather than a third star, resetting their LeBron calendar, and embracing the modern game.

Here are four reasons why the Lakers are now making smarter decisions: Rob’s learned from his mistakes, Jeanie’s given him full authority, they reset their LeBron calendar, and they embraced the modern game.

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1. Pelinka Learned From Mistakes

Whether the mistake was lusting for a third superstar, ignoring the poor fit, or not standing up to your owner and superstars, trading for Westbrook would have cost any NBA general manager other than Rob Pelinka his job.

But instead of firing him, the Lakers gave Rob a 2-year extension in June of 2022 to sync his contract with Darvin Ham to allay any fears Ham had of the Lakers hiring a new GM who would then want to hire his own coach.
Frankly, that the Lakers gave Pelinka an extension in June 2022 but did not reveal that publicly until October suggests that Jeanie Buss did not blame Rob Pelinka for the Russell Westbrook trade and trusted him to fix it.

We know that James and Davis were initially behind the Lakers trade for Russell Westbrook and that Jeanie Buss has always loved Russ and vetoed trading him to Indiana for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield before camp.
It would not be surprising to eventually find out the Rob had not been in favor of trading for Westbrook, which was why Jeanie Buss doubled down and extended him as the Lakers’ Vice President of Basketball Operations.

Regardless, there’s universal praise for the job Rob Pelinka did completely remaking the Lakers roster with three precision trades that cost six players the Lakers no longer wanted and a lightly protected 2027 first round pick.
The Lakers received starting point guard D’Angelo Russell. shooting guard Malik Beasley, and small forward Jarred Vanderbilt, plus backup shooting guard Davon Reed, power forward Rui Hachimura, and center Mo Bamba.

Rob clearly learned from his mistakes. He refused to overpay in a trade for superstar Kyrie Irving and prioritized filling the Lakers desperate need for size, shooting, and defense while not sacrificing the franchise’s future.

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2. Jeanie Gave Rob Full Authority

The best professional sports franchises have owners who, while reserving the final right of approval, hire professional front office executive teams to whom they delegate the job of decision making and running the franchise.

That was never the business management model Dr. Jerry Buss followed as he built the Los Angeles Lakers into a legendary sports franchise that had won a league best 17 NBA championships and was worth over $5 billion.
Jerry Buss was a hands-on visionary who made the franchise’s basketball as well as business decisions. His son Jim tried to follow his footsteps and won two NBA championships before being replaced by his sister Jeanie in 2017.

Jeanie has now been in charge of the Lakers for five years and has won one NBA championship. She has wavered being an active owner and visionary like her father and trusting and relying on a professional like Rob Pelinka.
Jeanie deserves kudos not only for signing Rob to an extension last summer but also for giving him the authority and power at the trade deadline to go out and do whatever he needed to transform the Lakers into a contender.

Jeanie Buss is not the hands-on visionary her father was or her brother tried to be but she‘s smart enough to know she needed a trusted basketball professional manager to be the visionary the Lakers desperately needed.
This is not the same NBA in which her father was able to win 11 titles in the 33 seasons he ran the team. The landscape is completely different both on and off of the court. This is no longer her father’s NBA or L.A. Lakers.

Jeanie Buss bet the future of the Lakers on Rob Pelinka and the ghost of Kobe Bryant by giving him the extension he deserved and the power and authority to set the Los Angeles Lakers on an exciting new directionless.

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3. Lakers Reset LeBron Calendar

One of the biggest benefits of Rob Pelinka’s decision to wait until the trade deadline to move Westbrook was the Lakers were able to satisfy themselves that LeBron still had another 3 to 5 years of high quality basketball in him.

Once the Lakers felt comfortable James was not going to dramatically decline in the near future, they were able to reset their clock for finding a replacement for James, which clarified the Lakers rebuilding process.
Suddenly, the Lakers were looking for an extreme roster makeover not only to give then the size, shooting, and defense needed to be win this year but also to be legitimate championship contenders over the next 3 to 5 years.

There’s no question LeBron James has committed to the Los Angeles Lakers and plans to finish his career wearing purple and gold. His signing the 2-year extension was significant proof of his commitment to Lakers.
While the Lakers did show interest when superstar Kyrie Irving demanded a trade, it’s significant that Rob Pelinka ultimately ghosted the Nets when they suggested a counter offer that the Lakers would never accept.

Resetting the LeBron calendar reduced the immediate pressure on the Lakers to find a replacement for James and emboldened them to start the extreme roster makeover before the deadline and finish it this summer.
As the Lakers continued to grow more and more confident LeBron had multiple high caliber years remaining, their makeover plans became more and more aggressive as they worked multiple deals simultaneously.

In the end, resetting the LeBron clock changed everything for the Lakers. Suddenly, they could see a window of at least 3 and maybe 5 more years of LeBron playing at a high level, which changed their entire perspective.

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4. Lakers Embrace Modern Game

After decades of old school GMs and coaches, the moves by the new-look Lakers are a final confirmation that the Los Angeles Lakers have wholly and unabashedly embraced the modern NBA and the power of the three.

Much of the Lakers’ struggles the past three seasons can be linked to their lack of vision or identity, which is what happens when ownership and management are more interested in a player’s star power than skillset.
That lack of direction or vision led to wheel spinning and poor decision making on whom to sign or pursue via trade, which led to a Lakers’ front office almost paralyzed with fear of making another disastrous mistake.

Basically, the modern NBA game is about spacing and shooting, both of which the Lakers have seriously lacked the past three seasons. This season the Lakers took the 24th and made the 29th fewest 3-pointers in the NBA.
With the addition of 2 of the league’s 15 highest volume 3-point shooters in D’Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley, the Lakers added significant 3-point gravity to their backcourt that should unleash superstars James and Davis.

In addition to adding Russell and Beasley, the Lakers brought in Jarred Vanderbilt to be their starting small forward and defensive specialist whose job would be to shut down or slow down the other team’s top scorer.
Finally, the Lakers traded for a pair of promising young 3&D front court players in Rui Hachimura to backup superstar power forward LeBron James and and Mo Bamba to backup superstar center Anthony Davis.

Embracing the modern NBA and its reliance on 3-point shooting to create spacing to unleash superstars has enabled the Lakers to make smarter decisions on whom to pursue and how to utilize them in modern game.

Everything’s suddenly coming up roses for the Lakers as the first preview of head coach Darvin Ham’s new look starting lineup and rotation powered Los Angeles to a dominating 120–102 coast-to-coast win over New Orleans.

Two days after proclaiming Schröder and Russell as his starting backcourt, Darvin Ham reversed course and unveiled a new innovative starting lineup for Wednesday night’s game that could change everything for the Lakers.
Darvin Ham’s surprising new Lakers’ starting lineup has D’Angelo Russell at point guard, Malik Beasley at shooting guard, Jarred Vanderbilt at small forward, LeBron James at power forward, and Anthony Davis at center.

The new lineup addresses the Lakers’ two greatest needs: a pair of volume 3-point shooting guards with gravity to create spacing and a bigger wing defender who can guard opposing team’s leading scorer at all three levels.
Russell, Beasley, and Vanderbilt played together on the Timberwolves, which made their first integration with James and Davis smoother and easier as the Lakers suddenly looked like a potential playoff juggernaut.

Right now, the 27–32 Lakers have 23 games remaining on their regular season schedule, that restarts next Thursday against the Warriors. The Lakers need to win almost every single game to make the playoffs.
To finish 10th and make the play-in, they need to win 14 of 23 for a 41–41 record. To finish 8th, they need to win 16 of 23 for a 43–39 record. To finish 6th and make the playoffs, they need to win 18 of 23 for a 45–37 record.

After watching their new lineups, the Lakers’ long-shot path to the playoffs suddenly looks more like a slam dunk. Barring injury, the Lakers are about to become the nightmare team that nobody wants to face in the playoffs.
The Lakers were a doomed team last week, their front office questioning whether to even make a move to save the season. That now appears to have been all posturing as Rob Pelinka and the Lakers won the trade deadline.

Ham’s new lineups now have the Lakers looking at bigger targets than just making the play-in tourney or the playoffs. The Lakers believe their new lineups and rotation have them potentially poised for a championship run.

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Rob Pelinka Finally Shows His Royal Flush

Sometimes, the best opportunities to redefine who you are, reestablish an identity, or create a new vision for the future happen after a team has made a horrendous mistake that threatens the viability of the franchise.

That’s exactly what happened with the Los Angeles Lakers this season. After struggling to figure out how to get out of the hole in which the Westbrook trade had left them, Rob Pelinka found a vision to embrace.
Westbrook caused the Lakers to rethink everything. Three superstars vs. two superstars? Cap space vs. tradable contracts? Win now vs. build for the future? The value of draft picks. How to make a third superstar work?

As the trade deadline approached, Pelinka knew the Lakers needed more than tweaks not only to give the team a shot at making the playoffs and winning #18 but also to position them to be a major player this summer.
Pelinka knew the Lakers needed an extreme makeover and set a goal to swap six players, all but one on expiring contracts, and one protected first round pick for three new starters and three new primary backups.

But before Pelinka could execute his bold trade deadline plan to rebuild the Lakers, Kyrie Irving turned the NBA world on its head by demanding a trade from the Nets with the L.A. Lakers as his preferred destination.
This was the ultimate test for Pelinka. Could a last minute trade for a third superstar once again derail Lakers’ plans to build a deep, diverse roster? This time Rob resisted the Nets’ crazy demands and returned back to plan.

The trades Pelinka had lined up had already produced Hachimura, Russell, Beasley, and Vanderbilt when Rob reportedly gave up trying to trade Beverley and Walker for Bogdanovic and instead traded for Mo Bamba.
Rob solved the Lakers’ need for size, shooting, and defense with six bigger, younger, better players, including two new starting guards and one starting defensive wing plus a backup shooting guard, forward, and rim protector.

By keeping one of the picks, trading for younger players with more upside, and negotiating strong top-4 protection on the pick that traded to Utah, Pelinka was able to protect and actually enhance the Lakers’ future.
Should the Lakers make the playoffs and be fortunate enough to win their 18th NBA Championship, those observers, including myself, who thought the Lakers were the biggest trade deadline winner will be vindicated.

Bottom line, while trying to find a way out of the Westbrook disaster, Rob Pelinka’s ended up finding an innovative vision he could embrace for a new and different Lakers’ team that’s built to win both today and tomorrow.

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Darvin Ham Embraces New Look Lakers Lineups

After being mercilessly trolled for his earlier starting lineups and rotations, Darvin Ham is now receiving universal praise for the new look Lakers’ lineups that he previewed against the Pelican last Wednesday night.

There’s been no behind-the-scenes reporting on how and why Darvin Ham suddenly changed his mind two days after declaring Dennis Schröder and D’Angelo Russell would be his starting backcourt for the foreseeable future.
Whether it was his own decision or whether he was following counsel from Rob Pelinka or others, Ham clearly made the right decision and the Lakers’ performance Wednesday night clearly validated his new look lineups.

The decision by Rob Pelinka and the front office to completely rebuild the Lakers’ starting lineup and rotation with just 23 games left was a complete surprise considering the franchise’s inaction the past two trade deadlines.
It was also a strong vote of confidence in rookie head coach Darvin Ham, who had been specifically included in the trade deadline strategy meetings and was closely involved as the Lakers’ final trade deadline plans evolved.

While I’ve been a strong Darvin Ham supporter, I’ve also been highly critical of his lineups, rotations, and substitutions. What drives me crazy about Darvin is he won’t set rules to help manage his lineups and rotations.
The Lakers have two superstars, two point guards, two rim protectors. Every single Lakers lineup that sets foot on the court should have one superstar, one point guard, and one rim protector as part of its fivesome.

There’s no question some of those earlier lineups were probably the best Ham could do with what Pelinka had given him. Fortunately, the new look roster is deeper, bigger, and more diverse than Darvin’s earlier roster.
The key will be can the new look Lakers lineups defend. Based on last Wednesday’s preview, the signs are promising. The Lakers starting lineup has two defenders who can defend all five positions at all three levels.

The Lakers took a huge risk in hiring a rookie head coach like Darvin Ham but he’s held up well in face of serious challenges in getting Westbrook to accept coming off the bench and dealing with James’ and Davis’ injuries.
Now Darvin will get a chance to coach with a roster that’s deep and diverse and a perfect fit for LeBron James and Anthony Davis. And with his new look lineups, Ham’s ready to go with the right players in the right positions.

With 23 games left in the season, this Laker are now firmly in the hands of rookie head coach Darvin Ham, who’s finally going to have a chance to coach the quality of team we expected to when he was hired by the Lakers.

The 26–32 Los Angeles Lakers got a potential season-saving infusion of talent before the trade deadline as Rob Pelinka pulled off four trades that brought back six new players, including five who will be in the rotation.

That means Lakers’ rookie head coach Darvin Ham must put together revised starting lineups and rotations that include Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Mo Bamba.
That could be worrisome as Ham’s questionable starting lineups and rotations, baffling preference for starting Dennis Schröder, and strange penchant for playing three-guard mini-lineups were heavily criticized.

With just 24 regular season games left in their season, the Lakers need to win almost every single game to make the play-in or playoffs and simply don’t have time to experiment with different starting lineups or rotations.
They will only have one chance to decide who starts and who is a backup. The Lakers desperately need rookie head coach Darvin Ham to make the right decisions on their starting lineups and rotations to win games.

That’s a heavy burden to put on a rookie head coach who’s already had to deal with major roster issues like talking Russell Westbrook into coming off the bench and dealing with a roster seriously lacking in size and shooting.
Ham’s won universal praise for how he handled Westbrook and for getting the Lakers to hang around without James and then without Davis but it’s up to him to construct a winning starting lineup and rotation for stretch run.

So let’s take a look at whom Darvin Ham is likely to start for the Lakers and whom is he’s likely to include in rotation as backups coming off the bench as the Lakers prepare to make one last-ditch stretch-run for the playoffs.

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Lakers’ Starting Lineup

While it could change, it currently appears Lakers’ coach Darvin Ham will start Dennis Schröder, D’Angelo Russell, and Rui Hachimura alongside superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis for their final 24-games.

The criticism of Ham’s decision has been immediate and fierce because starting a non-shooter like Schröder does not help the Lakers’ spacing and forces them to use shooting guard Austin Reaves as backup point guard.
After the trade deadline moves, everybody expected D’Angelo Russell to become the starting point guard and Dennis Schröder to replace Russell Westbrook as the team’s 6th man and point guard for the second unit.

The issue is also not that Schroder isn’t capable of playing mostly off the ball as a shooting guard, it’s that there are better options that provide the Lakers with better outside shooting and spacing for James and Davis.
Starting Schroder also likely prevents starting another non-shooter like Jarred Vanderbilt, who could be the starting small forward and shut- down defender if the team started a shooter like Malik Beasley at the two.

After watching Malik Beasley catch fire and hit 6 of 12 threes in a quarter and a half, one has to wonder at why Ham would not want to start Russell and Beasley, both of whom are among the top-15 in 3-point attempts.
A Lakers’ starting lineup with a backcourt of Russell and Beasley and a front court of Vanderbilt, James, and Davis would have elite 3-point shooting and a shut-down defender to guard other team’s leading scorer.

Darvin Ham needs to rethink starting Dennis Schröder and instead consider starting either Malik Beasley or Austin Reaves so Schröder can take over Westbrook’s role as 6th man and point guard for second unit.

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Lakers’ Backup Rotation

If the Lakers start Dennis Schröder, D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis, their backup rotation would be Austin Reaves, Malik Beasley, Troy Brown Jr, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Mo Bamba.

Basketball is not hockey where coaches sub out an entire lineup. In other words, Lakers fans should never expect to see Reaves, Beasley, Brown Jr, Vanderbilt, and Bamba on the court together, except under Darvin Ham.
For some reason, Darvin Ham is not a strong believer in staggering his two superstars and two point guards to make sure the Lakers have always have a superstar and point guard on the court for all 48 minutes of the game.

The Blazers game was a perfect example of what happens when a coach doesn’t set some simple rules for rotations such as always have a superstar, point guard, rim protector, and three shooters in the lineup at all times. With 3:20 left in the first quarter, Ham went with a lineup without Davis, Russell, and Schröder just as Dame re-entered the game. The result was the Blazers immediately turned a 3-point edge into a 15-point halftime lead.

Schröder and Ham have a long-time relationship and talked about the former playing point guard for the latter if were ever on the same team. That doesn’t mean Dennis should start, especially if not best for the team.
There’s been speculation in the media that Pelinka may have promised Schröder a starting point guard job to get him to sign like he did with Drummond last season. If so, time has come to break that promise.

If Darvin Ham insists on continuing to start Dennis Schröder at point guard, the Lakers’ starting lineup and rotations will struggle and their chances of winning enough games to make the playoffs will disappear

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Do Starting Lineups and Rotations Matter?

Whenever fans complain about their coach’s starting lineups and rotations, there’s always clapback that who starts doesn’t matter or who closes is more important. The truth is lineup building is as much art as science

First and most important, lineup building is about optimizing the potential synergy five players could have on the court together while making sure each lineup iteration was comprised off the critical mandatory elements.
For the Lakers, that means building 5-player lineups with one superstar, one point guard, one rim protector, and three 3-point shooters. It also means knowing that at least a fourth of the game will depend on subs.

It’s obvious head coach Darvin Ham’s inexplicable preference for starting Dennis Schröder this season is an eerie doppelganger of Frank Vogel’s equally inexplicable preference for starting Avery Bradley last season.
At some point, Ham has to realize that his trust and loyalty to Schröder cannot result in not putting the best possible team on the court to win. Otherwise, he’s likely to end up at the end of the year just like Vogel.

The All-Star break could not have come at a better time for the Lakers than right now as Darvin Ham desperately needs time and guidance on who to start and what rotations to make when the team makes its stretch run.
Hopefully, Rob Pelinka and other members of the front office will work with Ham over the break to get him to understand that starting Schröder at point guard is not the best strategy to build a championship rotation.

Starting Schröder could cause the Lakers to miss the playoffs and Ham to lose his job. Darvin and the Lakers need to make sure to get their starting lineup and rotation strategy right to make a run after the All-Star Break.

There’s no question Rob Pelinka put together a masterclass series of trades that could transform the Los Angeles Lakers from a team doomed to miss the playoffs to one with a puncher’s long-shot chance to win everything.

The questions left to be answered are whether the trades were good enough to transform the Lakers into legitimate contenders and whether the trades were done soon enough for Lakers to have time to get to playoffs.
Los Angeles essentially traded Westbrook, Beverley, Bryant, and three non-rotation players plus a protected first round pick for six new players, five of whom will become major players in their starting lineup and rotation.

At first glance, Pelinka clearly addressed the Lakers’ desperate needs for size, shooting, and defense while giving up only one lightly protected first round draft pick while smartly positioning the Lakers for next offseason.
The only problem is there is just 26 games left in the season for the Lakers to integrate 5 new players into their starting lineup and rotation and there’s simply no time left for Ham to play with lineups as the Lakers have to win.

Right now, the Lakers are 25–31 and 13th in the West, 2.5 games out of the #10 seed and the Play-In Tournament and 4.5 games out of the #6 seed and a guaranteed spot in the playoff with 26 games left in the regular season.
Starting tonight in San Francisco, the Lakers will finally have their full roster available, including both superstars and the players for whom they traded. To make the playoffs, the Lakers have to win almost every game.

Let’s take a closer look at Rob Pelinka’s master class for GM’s, the Lakers’ new roster and likely rotations, the team’s chances of winning their 18th NBA championship this season, and how they’re building for the future.

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Rob Pelinka’s General Manager Masterclass

Rob Pelinka deserves credit for giving NBA general managers a masterclass in how to give a two-superstar team with a poorly constructed roster a shot to get into the playoffs and have a puncher’s chance to win everything.

Redeeming himself after the potentially career-ending mistake he made in trading for Russell Westbrook last summer, Rob not only got the players he needed to land but also won the negotiating wars to acquire those players.
Pelinka has received universal praise for acquiring five legitimate rotation players like Hachimura, Russell, Beasley, Vanderbilt, and Bamba who are all young and athletic for just one lightly protected Lakers’ first round pick.

The challenge in any trade is getting the right player. Rob smartly brought the Timberwolves into the Utah Jazz trade so the Lakers would be able to trade for 26-year old D’Angelo Russell rather than 35-year old Mike Conley.
Pelinka also gets high grades for stealing 23-year old #9 draft pick Rui Hachimura from the Wizards and 24-year old #6 draft pick Mo Bamba from the Magic for just expiring contracts and multiple second round picks.

Hopefully, this will be the Rob Pelinka we’re going to see going forward. These were not ‘LeBron’ moves. Nor were they ‘Jeanie’ moves. These were Rob’s smartly executed moves to improve the Lakers today and tomorrow.
They were also moves that show a head of basketball operations who may finally be in control and doing what is part of a vision and plan and not just transactional responses due to a frugal, indecisive, or short-sighted owner.

While Rob received heavy criticism for trading for Westbrook last season and poorly constructing the Lakers’ roster the past two years, he redeemed himself with a masterclass in how to give a team an extreme makeover.

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Lakers’ Revamped Roster and Rotations

What immediately jumps out when you look at the depth chart for the Lakers’ roster after the trade is how much younger and bigger they’ve become. Lakers’ average age and size are now 25-years old and 6′ 6″.

The biggest two new additions to the Lakers will be likely be point guard D’Angelo Russell and center Mo Bamba. Russell starting at point will enable Schröder to replace Westbrook as the team’s 6th man coming off the bench.
Mo Bamba will start because the Lakers traded for him to give Anthony Davis a front court mate to lesson his workload, reduce the physicality of playing the five, and provide insurance in case Davis gets injured again.

While the Lakers have not announced who would start, the case for starting Bamba is compelling, starting with the Lakers knowing their slim hopes of winning the championship this season rest entirely on AD staying healthy. Pairing AD with a center like Bamba also gives the Lakers max positional size advantage in the front court. Davis gets to play his preferred power forward position and Ham gets to run his preferred two-bigs offense.

The above depth chart shows a projected starting lineup of 6′ 4″ D’Angelo Russell at the one, 6′ 5″ Austin Reaves at the two, 6′ 9″ LeBron James at the three, 6′ 10″ Anthony Davis at the four, and 7′ 0“ Mo Bamba at the five.
That lineup averages 6′ 8” in size and 7′ 1″ in wingspan, has 2 outstanding defenders in Davis and Reaves, 2 elite rim protectors in Davis and Bamba, and 3 high percentage 3-point shooters in Russell, Reaves, and Bamba.

The Lakers used the trades to upgrade their bench as Schroder takes over at point guard, Malik Beasley at shooting guard, Rui Hachimura at small forward, and Jarred Vanderbilt as power forward become primary backups.
Beasley is a lethal high volume 3-point shooter, Hachimura a 3/4 with size who can shoot, and Vanderbilt a 4/5 defensive Swiss Army knife. All three are good enough to challenge Mo Bamba to be the Lakers’ fifth starter.

One of the Lakers goals in rebuilding their starting lineup and rotation was to get younger, deeper, and more athletic and versatile. As you can see from the above depth chart, the Lakers extreme makeover was a huge success.

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Lakers’ Chances of Winning This Season

Most observers believe the Lakers dramatically upgraded their roster but don’t believe the moves they made were good enough or done soon enough for the 25–31 Lakers to win enough games to still make the NBA playoffs.

What everybody agrees upon is the Lakers need to start winning right now or they will have no chance of making the playoffs. There’s no time to play around with various lineups or rotations. Darvin Ham needs to be decisive.
Fortunately, Ham worked closely with Pelinka in developing the Lakers’ plan to retool the team’s roster so Darvin probably already knows who’s likely to start and who’s likely to backup whom, matchups notwithstanding.

While every single of the 26 games remaining on the schedule is critical, the 25–31 Lakers first priority is win 8 of their next 10 games and raise their win-loss record to 33–33. Do that and they’re likely in the Play-In Tourney.
The Lakers’ second priority is to to win 12 of their remaining 16 games, which would push their record to 45–37, which would give them a top-6 playoff seed at best or a #7 or #8 seed in the Play-In Tournament at worst.

To make the playoffs or favorable seed in the Play-In, the Lakers will likely have to win 20 of their remaining 26 games, which at first glance seems near impossible. In other words, the Lakers have a puncher’s chance.
But really, that’s all the Lakers have wanted in this injury plagued season, a chance to see what they could do with a healthy and dominant LeBron James and Anthony Davis and a roster that complemented them.

Frankly, a healthy and dominant James and Davis with a complementary supporting roster has always been the Lakers’ championship formula. They may be a long shot but if they get to the playoffs, they could win it all.

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Lakers Vision for Future

The major accomplishment by Rob Pelinka was not just making over a roster to win right now but also simultaneously establishing a bold vision for the next decade of Lakers’ basketball and building for the future.

The Los Angeles Lakers have been rightly criticized as a team that’s always in win-now mode and perennially sacrificing the future for the present. We now know all the talk about investing in the future was not just posturing.
Pelinka changed all of that with the moves he made this trade deadline. He not only fixed most of the Lakers’ size, shooting, and defensive issues but did so with bigger, younger, and more versatile and athletic players.

Aside from making over the roster, Rob also was able to get everybody in the Lakers’ front office on the same page financially, including committing to become a repeat taxpayer and to re-signing the players they traded for.
That’s a major strategic change for the Lakers, who prioritized cap space and often refused to trade for players unless on expiring contracts. The Lakers finally understand they need continuity to grow and get better.

While the Lakers are focused on building a deep and diverse team, they still have dreams of a third superstar. The trade for D’Angelo Russell was in part to get ready for a summer sign-and-trade with Dallas for Kyrie Irving.
Similarly, the all-out effort by the Lakers to keep their 2029 first round draft pick so they could pair it with their 2023 first round pick on draft day is part of a designed strategy by Pelinka and the Lakers to acquire Kyrie Irving.

While Pelinka’s received universal praise for terrific job he and his team did in transforming the roster to legitimate contender status, Rob’s greatest accomplishment was how well he’s positioned the Lakers for the future.

If the Los Angeles Lakers trade Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley, they would like to get back a starting-quality veteran point guard so Dennis Schröder could take over Russ’ 6th man role as lead guard off the bench.

With it becoming more and more obvious Westbrook cannot be trusted in tight games much less in the playoffs, the odds the Lakers will trade him in the next 3 days before the February 9 deadline has certainly increased.
The Lakers’ front office knows parity in the West has given them a unique opportunity to make the playoffs despite a current 25–29 record. With help from a trade, the Lakers could make a strong run and finish in the top-6.

Should the Lakers ultimately trade Westbrook, it probably means they’re going all-in to win this year and will also be trading Beverley and Walker, their only other contracts over the minimum besides James and Davis.
Since Dennis Schröder would be the only point guard left on the roster, the Lakers ideally want to bring back a better point guard who could start and allow Schröder to take over Westbrook’s spot leading the second unit.

So what do the Los Angeles Lakers want from their new starting point guard they can’t or aren’t getting from Dennis Schröder, who’s playing exceptionally well as the starter for a player on a minimum contract?
They want a point guard who can take and make more 3-point shots, has the physicality and tenacity to play switchable point-of-attack defense, and can contribute a high number of assist against low number of turnovers.

Let’s compare Dennis Schröder and four point guards who’ve been linked to the Lakers —Fred VanVleet, Kyle Lowry, Terry Rozier, and Mike Conley — to see who’s the best fit of the five for shooting, defense, and playmaking.

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Who’s Best Fit As 3-Point Shooter?

Per the following chart, Mike Conley has the best 3-point percentage for this season at 36.6% and his career at 38.1%. The only issue is whether he takes enough threes per game for his 3-point gravity to attract defenders.

1. Conley, TYR: 36.6% on 5.1 3PA pg, Career: 38.1% on 4.1 3PA pg
2. VanVleet, TYR: 33.6% on 8.6 3PA pg, Career: 37.6% on 6.3 3PA pg
3. Rozier: TYR: 33.9% on 8.1 3PA pg, Career: 37.1% on 5.5 3PA pg
4. Lowry, TYR: 33.5% on 6.2 3PA pg, Career: 36.7% on 5.3 3PA pg
5. Schröder, TYR: 33.6% on 3.6 3PA pg, Career: 33.7% on 3.4 3PA pg

It’s a little concerning that all four of the point guard candidates the Lakers would have to trade for are now shooting a lower percentage from deep than their career. Schröder is shooting close to his career percentage.
There could be many reasons why Conley, VanVleet, Rozier, and Lowry are all shooting lower than their career percentage from three, including the challenge and burden of playing for a losing team that’s going nowhere.

Because LeBron James will often have the ball on offense, the Lakers’ starting point guard needs to possesses 3-point gravity that attracts and holds defenders close and keeps them from sagging into paint to help.
Teams aren’t worried about shooters who only take 3 or 4 and make 1 or 2 threes per game because that’s too few points. But a volume 3-point shooter taking 8 shots and making 3 or 4 could generate 9 or 12 winning points.

VanVleet and Rozier are actually better fits as 3-point shooters for the Lakers than Conley because they have greater 3-point gravity since they’re volume 3-point shooters who currently take over 8 threes per game.

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Who’s Best Fit As Perimeter Defender?

Finding stats to compare defensive players from different teams is difficult. But stats for how many combined steals or blocks a player makes can be an excellent measure of how active and effective a player is as a defender.

The Los Angeles Lakers are struggling as a team defensively, especially whenever Anthony Davis is not on the court to protect the rim. One major area that needs dramatic improvement is the Lakers’ perimeter defense.
Per the following chart, Fred VanVleet has the best combined steals and blocks stats, averaging 2.2 stocks per game for the season and 1.7 stocks for his career. Although only 6′ 1″, Fred is an elite point-of-attack defender.

1. VanVleet, TYR: 1.6 spg, 0.6 bpg, 2.2 sbpg, Career: 1.3 spg, 0.4 bpg, 1.7 sbpg
2. Lowry, TYR: 1.1 spg, 0.4 bpg, 1.5 sbpg, Career: 1.3 spg, 0.3 bpg, 1.6 sbpg
3. Conley, TYR: 1.1 spg, 0.2 bpg, 1.3 sbpg, Career: 1.4 spg, 0.2 bpg, 1.6 sbpg
4. Rozier, TYR: 1.0 spg, 0.2 bpg, 1.2 sbpg, Career: 0.9 spg, 0.2 bpg, 1.1 sbpg
5. Schröder, TYR: 0.8 spg, 0.1 blg, 0.9 sbpg, Career: 0.8 spg, 0.1 bpg, 0.9 sbpg

Kyle Lowry and Mike Conley both also have excellent steal and block stats with career averages of 1.6 stocks per game, just behind Fred VanVleet. Rozier and Schröder had lower but still respectable steal and block stats.
Steals and blocks or stocks are an excellent stat to use to measure player defensive activity, even for point guards. VanVleet’s 0.4 blocks per game is impressive and shows Fred plays much bigger than expected for 6′ 1.”

VanVleet is the best fit for the Lakers as an elite perimeter defender who plays bigger than his size and excels in creating steals and blocks, which is exactly what Los Angeles needs defensively from the point guard position.

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Who’s Best Fit As Smart Playmaker

Mike Conley appears to be the best fit for playmaking as he averages 7.6 assists per game, which is the best of the Lakers’ five starting point guard prospects. Conley is also second to Lowry in career assists per game.

But assists alone don’t define how good a playmaker a point guard is as the Lakers learned from Westbrook. While teams need point guards who create volume assists, they also need point guards who do not turn the ball over.
The second stat that defines a point guard’s performance is his assists-to-turnovers ratio. Here again, Mike Conley stands out with an incredible 4.8 to 1 assists-to-turnovers ratio for this season and 2.9 ratio for his careeer.

1. Conley: TYR: 7.6 apg, 1.6 topg, 4.8 a/to, Career: 5.7 apg, 2.0 topg, 2.9 a/to
2. VanVleet, TYR: 6.5 apg, 1.8 topg, 3.6 a/to, Career: 5.1 Apg, 1.6 topg, 3.2 a/to
3. Lowry, TYR: 5.0 apg, 2.0 topg, 2.5 a/to, Career: 6.3 apg, 2.4 topg, 2.6 a/to
4. Rozier, TYR: 5.1 apg, 2.3 topg, 2.2 a/to, Career: 3.3 apg, 1.3 topg, 2.5 a/to
5. Schröder, TYR: 3.8 apg, 1.6 topg, 2.4 a/to, Career: 4.6 apg, 2.3 topg, 2.0 a/to

Fred VanVleet’s 3.6 assists-to-turnovers ratio for this season is even better than his career 3.2, which is greater than the career ratios of any of the other four candidates. VanVleet and Conley are the best fits as playmakers.

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Who’s Best Fit Overall

The Los Angeles Lakers are looking for the starting point guard who would be their best fit for as a volume catch-and-shoot 3-point shooter, point-of-attack perimeter defender, and high assists and low turnover playmaker.

Three additional factors that need to be considered when deciding which of the five starting point guard candidates is the best fit for what the Lakers need are the player’s age, his annual salary, and the length of his contract.
Ideally, if the Lakers are going to spend a draft pick to get a player, that player needs to be somebody the team is investing in long-term and thus must be on a good contract or be willing to sign a reasonable extension.

The top starting point guard candidate who best fits the Lakers overall is Fred VanVleet, who at 28-years old is tied for the youngest with Terry Rozier. He also only makes $21.2M, lowest of the four trade candidates.
Fred VanVleet also was the winner or co-winner in each of the individual rankings of which point guard candidate best fits the Los Angeles Lakers as a 3-point shooter, perimeter defender, and smart playmaker.

Here is a bio and stat profile for each of the five starting point guard candidates —Fred VanVleet, Mike Conley, Kyle Lowry, Terry Rozier, and Dennis Schröder in ranked order of best fit for the Los Angeles Lakers.

1. Fred VanVleet, 28-Years Old, 6′ 1″, 197 lbs, 1-Year at $21.2M,
TYR: 19.1/4.3/6.5 in 36.9 mpg on 15.8/8.6/4.1 shots for 34.3%/33.6%/90.2%
Career: 14.2/3.3/5.1 in 29.3 mpg on 12.0/6.3/2.6 shots for 40.3%/37.6%/86.7%

2. Mike Conley, 35-Years Old, 6′ 1″, 175 lbs, 2-Years at $22.6M
TYR: 10.3/2.5/7.6 in 19.6 mpg on 8.8/5.1/2.0 shots for 39.1%/36.6%/80.0%
Career: 14.7/3.0/5.7 in 31.9 mpg on 11.9/4.1/3.3 shots for 43.8%/38.1%/81.9%

3. Kyle Lowry, 36-Years Old, 6′ 0″, 195 lbs, 2-Years at $28.3M
TYR: 12.4/4.4/5.4 in 33.7 mpg on 9.9/6.2/2.8 shots for 40.0%/33.5%/85.5%
Career: 14.7/4.4/6.3 in 32.0 mpg on 11.1/5.3/4.1 shots for 42.4%/36.7%/81.5%

4. Terry Rozier, 28-Years Old, 6′ 1″, 190 lbs, 4-years at $21.4M
TYR: 21.7/4.2/5.1 in 35.7 mpg on 19.5/8.1/3.3 shots for 41.7%/33.9%/82.2%
Career: 13.4/3.9/3.3 on 11.6/5.5/2.0 shots for 41.7%/37.1%/82.2%

5. Dennis Schröder, 29-Years Old, 6′ 1″, 172 lbs, 1-Year at $1.8M
TYR: 12.3/2.6/3.8 in 30.4 mpg on 9.6/3.6/3.4 shots for 42.2%/33.6%/88.7%
Career: 14.1/2.9/4.6 in 26.7 mpg on 12.0/3.4/2.9 shots for 43.5%/33.7%/83.6%