5 Things: The emergence of the Laker bench

We’ve all seen it. LeBron has been stellar since the break forcing his way right back into the MVP convo many had deemed he had fallen out of. While it’s technically impossible for LeBron to fall all the way out of those kind of debates (I tend to agree with Kuzma and Vogel, the dude is the MVP, end of debate) LeBron actually hasn’t been the biggest reason for the Lakers unbeaten streak since the All Star break. Let’s dig in.

1. OK, LeBron HAS been really, really good. I don’t want to gloss over the King. The dude has been stellar. In the 33 mpg he’s been averaging since the break he’s shooting roughly 54% from the floor, 44% from three (again, roughly), a shade over 8 boards, just under 10 assists and playing solid defense. He’s leading the team but not having to play an absurd amount of minutes in the doing. Vogel settling into more of a stable rotation has helped but there’s another big reason: the bench is playing brilliant basketball right now.
2. Montrezl Harrell leading the way. Trezz caused a stir over the break with some of his social media activity over the break. I won’t care to speculate as to what he was going through or what it all meant suffice it to say it’s not been a year since he lost one of the stabilizing forces in his life, there have been few breaks away from teammates to this point in the season, and some guys do better around the team. Being away means confronting the things you can put asde when there’s basketball to focus on. I’m not saying Trezz was going through that scenario, but it is a familiar tale. One of the things about adversity, in whatever form it comes in, is it hardens you. I often refer to the process by which steel is forged into blades and I feel like Trezz came through his strife better forged and with a purpose. Having Frank utilize him in a familiar way (high screen and roll with various teammates) surely helped but I also sense a greater focus from Trezz along with his signature energy he brings on a nightly basis.
3. THT continues to emerge. Not going to lie, if it wasn’t for his defensive lapses I think Talen would have long out Caruso to the bench. On a team less focused on defense than this one that might have been the case. However you feel about that (I’m cool with it, love when our picks do well, all of ’em) it’s been really exciting to see the game start to slow down (at least on offense) for THT. His drives to the rim are controlled with the right amount of burst to blow by his man, he’s slid nicely into a hybrid backup PG/SG role (he often shares the floor with Schroder, Caruso or LeBron and so there’s plenty of guys who can bring the ball up and initiate). the next two steps in his growth are shooting a couple more threes per game (which will make LakerTom happy) and excelling within the defensive scheme (which will make Jamie happy). THT is an up and comer though, no doubt.
4. Kyle Kuzma doing his best Scottie Pippen. There really isn’t another player I would compare him to except maybe the championship version of Lamar Odom. The kind of guy that does enough of everything that you feel like he’s everywhere. Kyle’s shot looks great right now, really on balance without much extraneous drifting. He’s rebounding well and he’s not boxing out teammates in the doing, he’s playing hard for the team and the results speak for themselves. While I am of the opinion that the way Kyle’s contract is structured makes him less likely to be traded during the season and more likely after the extension kicks in I also won’t be surprised to hear his mame being tossed about in the rumor mill.
5. What does this mean when AD comes back? Damien Jones is doing his thing in the minutes he gets, much like our centers did for us last season which was to help set a tone, kick the game off with some easy offense and force the defense to account for the lob early in the game, Markieff Morris finally looks like, well, the ‘Kieff of yore and we’re winning basketball games. AD is going to put ‘Kieff to the bench when he comes back there’s little doubt and someone’s minutes are going to suffer. My vote is for that person to be ‘Kieff. Maybe we’ll see a little fewer minutes for everyone and this scenario doesn’t address what happens when Gasol returns. Frankly I don’t see a role for Marc on this team right now, we’re finally playing with some flow and he has not provided that in any way really. Frank isn’t the kind of coach to make big changes in the regular season, though, we saw that last season. However, we also saw him adapt to matchups in the playoffs and move on and try new things. Which version of the coach will win out?

All in all, not the worst problem to have. I’d re-sign Damien Jones to a 10 day rather than trade good players for a guy won’t do much more than what Jones is being asked to do now. Don’t really see the sense. If a talent like Drummond comes down the river on the buyout that’s one thing, but trading any of our guys for a Biyombo or Noel type player when Jones is really doing exactly what they would do works for me. Like we all saw in the playoffs it’s highly likely that player (regardless of the name on the back of the jersey) will sit out for a series or two. Maybe more. With that in mind a trade makes less sense.

One last thing, and apologies to Gerald if this gets me “banned” again (lol) but today has all the makings of the perfect trap game: Hawks are on a 7 game winning streak and playing with purpose, early start, and we haven’t done well on the front end of back to backs. You know what’s coming next.