Lakerholics

The arrival of Russell Westbrook not only gives the Los Angeles Lakers a legitimate third superstar but also the catalyst to enable them to unleash their championship version of ‘small-ball-on-steroids’ in the regular season.

The Lakers’ sudden dramatic change in course shocked everybody as the pundits expected L.A. to bring back most of their bubble championship roster despite sufferring an embarrassing injury plagued first round exit. Never afraid to shoot for the moon, the Lakers dumped their entire roster except for LeBron, AD, and THT, traded for polarizing point guard Russell Westbrook, and fully embraced playing small ball in the regular season.

The naysayers and doubters continue to predict the Lakers will still start either Dwight Howard or DeAndre Jordan at center rather than Davis, who’s been reluctant to play the five fulltime since signing with Los Angeles. However, news reports LeBron and AD agreed before the trade to move to the four and five to accommodate Russ and Rich Paul telling teams the same thing at the Chicago combine clearly indicate major change is coming.

Switching to small ball during the regular season as well as in the playoffs opens the door for the Lakers to start games with a five-out spread-the-floor offense and close out games with a shut-down switch-everything defense. With the Russell Westbrook taking over at the one and two of the fastest and quickest big men in the game in LeBron James and Anthony Davis manning the four and five, the Lakers will also lead the league in fast breaks.

With Russ manning the one, LeBron willing to give up the ball and move to the four, and AD finally willing to play the five during the regular season, the Lakers have a chance to lead the league in offense, defense, and transition.

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SO WHY DID THE LAKERS SUDDENLY DECIDE TO GO SMALL?

The opportunity to trade for a legitimate third superstar in Westbrook was the reason the Los Angeles Lakers suddenly decided to commit to playing their version of ‘small-ball-on-steroids’ in the regular season and playoffs.

After an injury plagued first round playoffs exit and anticipating a potential NBA Finals matchup with the Brooklyn Nets and their Superstar Big Three of Duarant, Irving, and Harden, the Lakers needed to make a bold move. They had two priorities: a ‘difference-making playmaker’ so LeBron James could move off the ball to power forward and multiple high volume, high percentage 3-point shooters to create spacing for the team’s superstars.

While Russ checked the boxes as a ‘difference-making playmaker,’ his poor shooting from the line and deep all but guaranteed the Lakers would have to move LeBron and AD to the four and five and play small for it to work. That’s why Pelinka went out and signed six proven veteran 3-point shooters, including two who were excellent perimeter defenders, to give Vogel the pieces he needed to create optimum lineups for their three superstars.

It was obvious from the start trading for Westbrook could only work if the Lakers committed to playing small ball with Russ at the one, LeBron at the four, AD at the five, and a pair of elite 3-point shooters to creat spacing.

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HOW DOES GOING SMALL HELP THE LAKERS OFFENSIVELY?

Anthony Davis’ reluctance to play center fulltime to avoid injuries and extend his career has prevented the Lakers from putting the best version of themselves on the court since they traded for him two years ago.

Trading for Westbrook changed everything, forcing the Lakers to embrace small ball during the regular season so they can deploy a pair of proven 3-point shooters to create floor spacing for superstars LeBron, AD, and Russ. With a Superstar Big Three who were subpar 3-point shooters, there was no way the Lakers could afford to waste a spot in their starting or closing lineup for a traditional center like Howard or Jordan who have no 3-point gravity.

While 5-out sets would create floor spacing for LeBron and AD to attack the rim, the real beneficiary of better spacing would be Russ, who had one of his best years ever when the Rockets traded Capela to go all-in on small ball. Pulling opposing centers and power forwards out of the paint, the Lakers can create opportunities for James, Davis, and Westbrook to go 1-on-1 against their defenders without having to worry about a shot blocker.

Offensively, the Lakers’ 5-out ‘small-ball-on-steroids’ sets will optimize what Russell Westbrook can do attacking the rim while setting up LeBron James and Anthony Davis to feast in the paint and dominate on the glass.

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HOW DOES GOING SMALL HELP THE LAKERS DEFENSIVELY?

It’s been less than a year ago since the Los Angeles Lakers won their 17th championship in the bubble by dominating opposing defenses with their ‘small-ball-on-steroids’ defense with LeBron at the four and AD at the five.

Besides adding six proven veteran 3-point shooters to allow the Lakers to play 5-out on offense, the Lakers made sure two of those sharp shooters were also versatile perimter defenders capable of switching everything. While the Lakers could pair Ellington and Nunn with their three superstars for an elite starting lineup, they could also pair Bazemore and Ariza with James, Davis, and Westbrook for a lethal switch-everything defense.

That’s a Lakers’ closing lineup of Westbrook (6′ 3″ with 6′ 8″ wingspan), Bazemore (6′ 4″ with 7′ 0″ wingspan), Ariza (6′ 8″ with 7′ 2″ wingspan), James (6′ 9″ with 7′ 0″ wingspan), and Davis (6′ 10″ with 7′ 6″ wingspan). Being able to roll out a lineup with five strong defenders with size and length to switch every screen is a killer weapon to have available in this pick-and-roll driven era. What makes this lineup work is there’s no weak link to attack.

The Lakers’ switch-everything small-ball-on-steroids lineup is not only big, long, and fast but plays a physical bully-ball suffocating style of defense. Switching to small ball full-time will make the Lakers’ defense the best.

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HOW DOES GOING SMALL HELP THE LAKERS IN TRANSITION?

The Lakers expect to lead the NBA in pace and recreate Showtime with Russell Westbrook leading the charge with LeBron and AD on the wings and a pair of deadeye 3-point shooters sprinting to get open in the corners.

The Lakers may set records for transition and early offense points next season as their bully-ball defense plus the sheer speed and quickness of their small ball lineups is goiing to create easy fast break opportunities. Similarly, having fierce finishers like LeBron James and Anthony Davis running the wings with Russell Westbrook is going ensure the Lakers cash in on those opportunities in the regular season and even in the playoffs.

If Westbrook was able to get the Wizards playing at the fastest pace in the NBA, he should have no problem driving the Lakers to new records in transition points and efficiency. We’ll see the modern version of Showrime. While the Lakers have prioritized taking and making more threes, they’re also going to be at the rim more than maybe any team ever. They won’t concede the 3-point battle but they plan to dominate teams in transition.

Nothing hurts an offense more than knowing soon as a shot goes up they have to hustle back on defense rather than trying for offensive rebounds or stealing an outlet pass. Playing smaller and faster is a killer in transition.

There’s been a lot of talk about Russell Westbrook exacerbating rather than helping the Lakers’ need for better free throw and 3-point shooting but a close review of his stats renews hopes his shooting struggles can be cured.

Let me first be clear about a couple of major issues. First, the critics have gone way overboard by throwing Russ under the bus for his shooting woes while ignoring the unbelievable contributions he makes in other areas. Second, Rob Pelinka and the Lakers deserve high praise for the moves they made after the Westbrook trade to add six sharpshooters who can make their free throws and shoot a high volume and high percentage from deep.

The crux of the moves Pelinka made this offseason was to shift the team’s 3-point production from superstars LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook, none of whom is really a reliable or trustworthy 3-point shooter. While LeBron, AD, and Russ are not going to stop shooting threes, the Lakers’ plan is to have their superstars attack the rim to create wide open threes for the six new 3-point shooters they signed this offseason.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at how Russ’ stats contain valulable clues that should alow the Lakers to find a cure to improve his 65% free throw percentage from 65% to 75% and his 3-point percentage from 31.5% to 35%.

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HOW TO FIX WESTBROOK’S FREE THROW SHOOTING

Let’s start with Russell’s issues at the free throw line. Last season, he averaged 65.6% from the line, which matched the 65.6% he shot three seasons ago. Russ will need to shoot better to close games for the Lakers.

The good news is Russ is a career 79% free throw shooter over 13 seasons, who shot over 80% from the line 8 of his first 10 seasons. The bad news is his free throw percentage dropped to 68.8% over the last three years. The question the Lakers need to answer is what happened to cause the elite free throw shooter who shot 81.4% over his first 10 years to have his free throw percentage to drop 12.7% to just 68.8% over the last three years?

Nothing jumps out from reviewing his stats or comparing his free throw shooting routine now and then that explains the precitous drop in free throw percentage. There’s no correlation to his shots or free throws taken. The solution is for the Mike Penworthy, the Lakers’ shooting coach, to work with Russ to get him back to shooting free throws with the accuracy he did during his first 10 years in the league. This is a problem coaching can fix.

Getting Russell Westbrook to improve his free throw shooting from 65% to 75% as a Lakers is an attainable goal, especially since Russ won’t have the heavy workload he had at Oklahoma City, Houston, or Washington.

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HOW TO IMPROVE WESTBROOK’S 3-POINT SHOOTING

When an NBA player is an elite free throw shooter, which Westbrook was his first 10 years, there’s a good chance that player will also develop into a capable 3-point shooter. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen with Russ.

But looking at his 3-point shooting stats for last season by quarter and by half revealed information that could explain Westbrook’s inconsistency when it comes to 3-point shooting and suggest a possible plan to improve. Last season, Russ shot a mediocre 31.5% on 1.3 of 4.2 threes per game but when you dig deeper you find Russ shot a respectable 35.0% on 0.6 of 1.7 threes in the 1st half but a dismal 29.1% on 0.7 of 2.4 threes in the 2nd half.

That suggests the pressure and workload playing on the Wizards could have caused Russ’ shooting percentage to dive the second half of games. Russ’ worst quarter all year long was the 4th, when he shot 27.8% from three. Frankly, playing on the Lakers with superstar bigs like LeBron James and Anthony Davis should enable Russ to dial down his effort on offense, limit his shot selection, and focus more on playmaking and attacking the rim.

A dose of restraint and discipline and less pressure and workload should give Russ the opportunity to raise his 3-point shooting from 31.5% to 35%, which would be the highest 3-point percentage in his storied 13-year career.

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WHAT WESTBROOK HAS TO DO TO FIT IN WITH LAKERS

Russell Westbrook has a well-earned reputation for being a stubborn player and while he’s played with superstars like Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Bradley Beal, he’s never won a championship in his 13 seasons in the NBA.

The Lakers traded for Russell Westbrook to win their 18th championship. They’re taking the ball out of LeBron’s hands and putting it in Russ’ hands. His job will be attack the rim and turn this year’s Lakers into Showtime 2.0. For the new big three to click, all three superstars must make sacrifices. That means Russ learning to make his free throws and limiting his 3-point shots, LeBron moving to the four and playing off the ball, and AD playing the five.

All of this was obviously discussed during the meeting in Los Angeles before free agency between Russ, LeBron, and AD so each of the superstars knew beforehand what they would need to do to make the surprise trade work. Had that meeting not happened, the Lakers would have probably not traded for Russ and Buddy Hield would likely be wearing purple and gold right now. And give Pelinka credit for still being able to get the shooting they needed.

The basketball media wrongly thinks the Lakers made mistake trading for Westbrook because his poor shooting is a bad fit. In the end, the Lakers will not only prove they can win the championship but also that Russ can shoot.

The crew from Lakerholics and Joe Soro from Lakersball picked their top 10 All-Time Lakers (which you can hear and see above) but we want to hear from YOU with your lists so please list them out on the comments below and we can give you and your list a shout out on the program!

While training camp and preseason can always lead to surprises, a careful review of the moves the Lakers have made and the roster they have built reveals clues to which players are likely to start and be part of the rotation.

To start with, the Lakers now have a legitimate superstar big three with Russell Westbrook joining LeBron James and Anthony Davis. So let’s begin by pencilling in all three of the Lakers’ superstars to open and close halves. The question is how will the Lakers fill the other two starting spots? Will they start and close with two elite 3-point shooters like Nunn and Ellington or a traditional low post center like Howard or Jordan and just one shooter?

Once the starting lineup is fixed, the Lakers need to figure out what their rotations will be. One key rotation will be putting together a linup that can win the twelve to fourteen minutes per game LeBron is not on the court. During the two years James has played for the Lakers, they have never had a positive plus/minus when LeBron was off the court. Finding a winning rotation powered by Davis and Russell should be the top rotation priority.

Here are four lineups Lakers’ head coach Frank Vogel should include in his rotations: Lakers’ Starting Lineup, LeBron at the Five Lineup, LeBron on the Bench Lineup, and Switch Everything Lineup for closing out games.

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1. LAKERS’ STARTING LINEUP

Creating a starting lineup for the Lakers begins with deciding who starts at center: Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard, or DeAndre Jordan? The small ball linup that won you a championship or the McGee minutes eating plan?

When you review the Lakers options at starting center, it’s obvious Anthony Davis is a more attractive option than the older Dwight Howard or DeAndre Jordan, who are no longer in their prime as shot blockers and/or dunkers. While AD prefers to play the five instead of four, he agreed to spend more time at the five in the regular season if Russ played the one so the Lakers could include two elite volume 3-point shooters in their starting lineup.

Pelinka did a great job making the Westbrook trade viable by adding six proven 3-point shooters to the roster: sharpshooters like Kendrick Nunn, Wayne Ellington, Malik Monk, Kent Bazemore, and Carmelo Anthony. Picking the best two high volume, high percentage 3-point shooters on the Lakers is easy. It’s Wayne Ellington, who averaged 6.0 threes per game at 42.2% and Kendrick Nunn, who averaged 5.7 threes per game at 38.1%.

The above starting lineup is basically this season’s version of the small ball lineup with AD at center the Lakers used to win the 2020 championship. Three superstars and two high volume, high percentage 3-point shooters.

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2. LEBRON AT THE FIVE LINEUP

One of the lineups we’re going to see a lot this season is a small ball lineup with LeBron James at center, Rajon Rondo at point guard, plus three high volume, high percentage 3-point shooters to create spacing.

That’s right: LeBron James at the five. We saw glimpses of this last year in the playoffs and this year in the regular season, when the Lakers posted up LeBron, who destroyed whichever player had to guard him in the post. Whether defended by a big or a wing, LeBron has the power moves and bully ball mentality to destroy defenses and either score the ball or find a wide open 3-point shooter or cutter slashing towards the rim.

The LeBron at the five lineup opens the door for the Lakers to give minutes to other 3-point shooters Pelinka signed like Carmelo Anthony and Malik Monk and invaluable players like Rajon Rondo and Talen Horton-Tucker. This is a lineup that should allow LeBron to shine as both a scorer and playmaker. Rondo is a genius at getting the ball to LeBron in the places where he is essentially unstoppable. This lineup will unleash LeBron.

Teams easily forget that the Lakers have two superstars who are capable of playing multiple positions including small ball center. The LeBron at the five lineup will be the Lakers surprise for teams who want make them play small.

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3. LEBRON ON THE BENCH LINEUP

The Lakers’ Achilles Heel the last two seasons has been the minutes when LeBron James was on the bench. One of Vogel’s top priorities is to create a LeBron on the bench lineup that can win the minutes when James rests.

Building that lineup has to start with Westbrook and Davis, the Lakers’ other two superstars. Include the team’s best 3-point shooters in Ellington and Nunn and add Howard for defense and rebounding to create a dope lineup. Last season, the Lakers were a +12.8 points with LeBron on the floor and a -1.2 points with him off the floor. Even during the championship run, the Lakers were unable to generate a postive net rating without LeBron.

Thus, the LeBron on the bench lineup has the most potential of any of the Lakers’ lineups to make a dramatic turn around to become a positive rather than a negative factor when it comes to winning the non-LeBron minutes. Crafting a lineup with superstars in Russ and AD, elite 3-point shooters in Ellington and Nunn, and a proven shot blocker, rim protector, and rebounder like Howard gives the Lakers a powerhouse non-LeBron lineup.

Turning the Lakers biggest negative lineup into one of its best could be a difference-maker in the Lakers quest for their 18th championship. It’s also one of the massive benefits of having three rather than two superstars.

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4. SWITCH EVERYTHING LINEUP

The key to creating a lineup to close games is defense. James, Davis, and Westbrook are all plus defenders. To create the best closing lineup, all we need to do is add our best two perimeter defenders.

The best two perimeter defenders on the Lakers are Kent Bazemore and Trevor Ariza, both of whom are proven 3&D players who can shoot the three and play elite defense against other teams’ best guards or wings. Most importantly, this would give the Lakers a lineup of players with the talent and versatility to defend multiple positions and switch everything, which is the strategy the Lakers should deploy to close out halves and games.

Switching everything requires players with elite individual ability and tough mentality to switch on all screens. It’s a tactic that makes consummate sense considering how efficient and deadly offensive players are in today’s game. With an AD and LeBron front court, a point guard in Russ who can defend bigs, and two elite veteran perimeter defenders in Bazemore and Ariza, the Lakers can roll out a closing lineup as lethal as the Warriors Death Lineup.

The Lakers know that defense wins championships. While most expect the Lakers to make a huge leap offenseively, there’s a good chance they might be able to do the same defensively with Anthony Davis now playing the five.

After signing DeAndre Jordan and trading Marc Gasol, the Lakers are faced with a major potential season-defining decision whether to finally start Anthony Davis at the five or one of a pair of washed career backup centers.

Now that smoke is clearing, Jordan has been signed, and Gasol traded, who will start at center for the Lakers becomes the big question. Do the Lakers start Howard or Jordan like McGee in their 2019–20 championship run? Many observers believe replacing Gasol with Jordan signals the Lakers are going to reprise the center strategy from their championship run in 2020 and have Howard or Jordan start games and second halves like McGee.

Personally, I believe the Lakers’ decision to replace Gasol with Jordan had more to do with their strategy to have elite shot blockers at center all game rather than simply trying to replicate their championship center rotation. For me, the trades to bring in Russell Westbrook and move Marc Gasol confirm the news before free agency that Anthony Davis was willing to start and play major minutes at the five to make room to start two shooters.

This will all be resolved in training camp, which starts on September 28th, and preseason games, which begin October 3rd. So let’s take a look at the Lakers’ three options to start at center when the new season kicks off:

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1. THE LAKERS START DEANDRE JORDEN AT CENTER

While there’s been Twitter chatter the Lakers might start Jordan, the idea they would start a player who was just waived by their major rival in the East whose value is now the league minimum seems like a long shot at best.

We’re not talking about the 2015–18 DeAndre Jordan who made 1st team All-NBA once, 2nd team All-NBA twice, and 2nd team All-Defensive once. We’re talking about the 32-year old version who couldn’t start for the Nets. Gone are the ‘Lob City’ days of 2.5 blocks per game, 1.0 steals per game, and 250 dunks per season. Today’s DeAndre Jordan would be lucky to average 1.5 blocks, 0.5 steals per game, and 100 dunks for the season.

The big problem with having DeAndre Jordan play JaVale McGee’s role as the team’s starting center for the first six to eight minutes of each half is it uses one of the critical two starting spots available for elite 3-point shooters. Since James, Davis, or Westbrook, are not high percentage 3-point shooters, the Lakers logical move would be to dedicate the two empty starting slots alongside of their three superstars to proven veteran 3-point shooters.

DeAndre Jordan would have to show the Lakers that he still was the vertical force on offense and defense as he was in his prime to be seriously considered as the Lakers’ starting center when the 2021–22 season starts.

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2. THE LAKERS START DWIGHT HOWARD AT CENTER

Frankly, the arguments against starting Dwight Howard at center are the same as those against starting DeAndre Jordan. They limit the number of 3-point shooters the Lakers can play to create spacing for their superstars.

Like with DeAndre Jordan, the version of Dwight Howard the Lakers will get this season is nowhere near the superstar center who was 1st team All-NBA five times from 2008-2012 and the DPOY three times from 2009–2012. While Dwight was ultimately played off the floor in the Lakers’ bubble championship run, he still was an important defensive factor against Nikola Jokic as the Lakers dominated the Denver Nuggets in five games.

There’s no question having JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard eat up minutes at center allowed Anthony Davis to spend 60% of his time at his preferred power forward position to avoid the physicality of playing center. Frankly, it doesn’t make sense for the Lakers to copy that strategy now that they have Westbrook playing at the one and desperately need 3-point shooters on the floor when LeBron, AD, and Russ play together.

The expectation is Dwight Howard, who’s already familiar with the Lakers’ offensive and defensive strategies, is a better fit for the Los Angeles’ center rotation and will be the primary backup at center over DeAndre Jordan.

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3. THE LAKERS START ANTHONY DAVIS AT CENTER

The fact that the Lakers are heading into training camp with just DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard as the only two centers on the roster is clear cut evidence Anthony Davis is going to be playing major minutes at center.

The Lakers finished last season with three centers — Andre Drummond, Marc Gasol, and Montrezl Harrell — on the roster besides Anthony Davis. That led to Davis playing center 10% in regular season and 20% in playoffs. That was a strategy that backfired badly as none of the Lakers’ three centers were able to protect the rim defensively or provide a lethal vertical threat offensively. As a result, the Lakers did not bring back any of those centers.

Instead, the Lakers prioritized bringing in a ‘difference-making playmaker’ in Russell Westbrook, which exacerbated the team’s desperate need for better 3-point shooting but also gave Los Angeles the third superstar they coveted. The seeds for the Westbrook trade had been planted during a meeting between LeBron, AD, and Russ at James home in Los Angeles where all three superstars agreed to make sacrifices to make the Superstar Big Three work.

Anthony Davis supposedly agreed during that meeting that he would play a lot more at center in order to enable the Lakers to play two volume 3-point shooters to create spacing alongside their trio of rim attacking superstars.

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4. DOES IT REALLY MATTER WHO STARTS AT CENTER?

Aside from AD’s claims that playing center makes him prone to injuries, the other criticism from those who want to start Dwight Howard or DeAndre Jordan instead of Davis at center is it simply does not matter in the end.

They point to the fact the Lakers’ starting lineups the last two years did not include Anthony Davis but still posted their best 5-man lineup net ratings. The McGee and Gasol starting lineups had superior 12.6 and 13.2 net ratings. The argument we won a championship with McGee as the starting center is compelling but ignores differences in the composition of the Lakers’ roster as well as changes in the quality of competition to be faced.

While starting DeAndre Jordan or Dwight Howard at center could work during the regular season since the Lakers with LeBron, AD, and Russ are likely to be a juggernaut, it clearly will have to change come the playoffs. Frankly, having to change starting lineups and style of play for postseason is one of the main arguments to start Anthony Davis all of the time. In other words, use the regular season to practice what you will do in the playoffs.

The Nets’ Big Three has raised the bar to win a championship and the Lakers need to start their best five players on the court from the opening tip. They cannot be deceived by thinking who starts doesn’t matter. It does.

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While training camp and preseason should provide more information about the Lakers center rotation plans, the moves the Lakers have made and the roster they have built seemingly point to Anthony Davis starting at center.

Since teams already pack the paint to prevent LeBron James and Anthony Davis from getting to the rim, rolling out a starting lineup with only one quality 3-point shooter would be playing right into the defense’s hands. LeBron, AD, and Russ are all subpar 3-point shooters, which means the Lakers’ top priority in creating their starting lineup and rotations is to make sure to always have at least two elite 3-point shooters on the floor.

The only way the Lakers can achieve that goal when they play all three of their superstars is to have Anthony Davis play center so they can dedicate the shooting guard and small forward position to proven 3-point shooters.