What the critics of the Westbrook trade miss when they focus on why Russ’ poor shooting isn’t a good fit for the Lakers is how his dominant presence at point guard has a domino effect that unleashes the team’s best lineup.
There’s never been any question the Lakers best lineup was with LeBron James at the four and Anthony Davis at the five but AD’s preference to play the four to avoid injuries and extend his career limited the lineup’s usage. During the championship season, Davis played center 40% in the regular season and 60% in the playoffs. This past season, the Lakers reduced his center minutes to 10% in the regular season and 20% in the playoffs.
It was like the Lakers forgot all about the lethal small ball lineup with LeBron at the four and AD at the five that destroyed playoff opponents last year in the bubble and allowed L.A. to take home their 17th NBA championship. But the sudden opportunity to trade for a future HOF point guard in Russell Westbrook may have finally forced the Lakers to do what fans have been calling for two years: play LeBron at the four and Anthony Davis at the five.
Ideally, the Lakers should start LeBron James at the four and Anthony Davis at the five. That’s the lineup Russ, LeBron, and Anthony discussed when they met two weeks before free agency to talk about possibly playing together. The early signs support Davis starting at the five or at least playing major minutes at the five since the Lakers only have two centers on the roster right now and there is no talk about them pursuing anybody as a third center.
There’s also the issue of the Lakers’ starting lineup needing volume 3-point shooters to prevent teams from clogging the paint to force LA to shoot from outside. Lack of 3-point shooting is a problem adding Russ has not helped. With three superstar starters who are not elite 3-point threats, the Lakers’ other two starters must be high volume, high percentage 3-point shooters and neither center — Marc Gasol or Dwight Howard — meet that criteria.
Being able to move LeBron James off the ball to the four, the logical position for him to play to as he finishes his career, and Anthony Davis to the five, his ideal position, was the biggest benefit of trading for Russell Westbrook. While AD has said he would play the five if needed and frankly proved it by playing center 60% of the time to win the bubble championship, he has obviously embraced Russ coming to the Lakers and him moving to the five.
What the Westbrook trade critics miss completely is that impact on the Lakers of Russ attacking the rim and throwing lobs to LeBron and AD or kickouts to the volume 3-point shooters Rob Pelinka added this offseason. The Lakers didn’t just add an elite point guard. They added a third superstar who allowed them to re-align their lineups and rotations, optimize their superstars, and prioritize playing their championship version of small ball.
The trade for Westbrook was made for a multitude of reasons, including being able to move LeBron and AD to the four and five. That’s why Anthony Davis at the five is the missing piece to the Lakers’ championship puzzle.
I’m still holding my breath hoping that Frank Vogel will not start Marc Gasol and his 1.0 made threes per game at center. The only thing worse than that would be starting Dwight and just giving up on shooting threes despite all the shooters that Rob signed.
I know there are many fans out there who think it would be fine to start Marc even though he does nothing to help protect the rim or create spacing for shooters. All he would do is take up one of the two non-superstar starting positions that the Lakers desperately need to be volume 3-point shooters.
Who will be the volume 3-point shooters? My picks are Nunn at the two and Bazemore at the three although I could also see Wayne Ellington get a shot as he is probably the best shooter on the team.
All of the signs continue to point to LeBron moving to the four and AD the five. It’s what LeBron, AD, and Russ talked about before free agency. The Lakers also don’t appear to be looking for a third center. They tried unsuccessfully to trade Gasol in the offseason and I think there’s still a chance he will be replaced by a shot blocker.
The one big remaining question for the Lakers this offseason is will Frank go small.
LeBron will be LeBron and Russ will be Russ but whether the Lakers will be the best team in the NBA next season will depend on how Anthony Davis takes control of his great talent and plays as the small ball center for the Lakers. That will be the difference maker that will determine how great the Lakers will be. This season, until LeBron retires, and after the Lakers become AD’s team.
Becoming AD’s team is going to happen and it’s entirely possible it might happen this season. I know there was talk after the bubble championship that last season might have been when AD takes over but we know now that was doomed. Davis knows now he must take control of the destiny of the Lakers if they are to beat the Nets and win their 18th NBA championship.
This is kind of cherry-picking around the fact that AD looked limited from the get-go. The short turnaround did he and LeBron zero favors. Injuries played a massive part in both his role and impact and when LeBron went down with the high ankle injury that pretty much sealed our fate. We might not have known, certainly we all hoped that the players who could play would play better, but that did not happen.
Wherever he plays he needs to play at a near MVP level and certainly at DPOY level for us to attain the goals they desire, there’s no question about that. LeBron will be ready, will ease his way into full-bore LeBron mode over the course of the season and, barring injury, be ready for the playoffs.
Russell is someone I hope can be the more dominant force in the regular season, and in the doing spell LeBron for stretches and let him play a less involved game so as to be better prepared for the playoffs, and start to build a rapport with the rest of the team, specifically Anthony Davis. If Russ has a dominant regular season the Lakers will be in good shape. if he struggles to fit there could be some major issues when the playoffs roll around.
As you well know I don’t give a fig about volume three point shooting. What they need to focus is on are smarter and more decisive three point shots. I can all but guarantee the Lakers will shoot below the league average in terms of attempts based solely on the primary ball-handlers on the team. In reality the guys who will shoot threes will often not be creating their own three point attempt, it will be created for them off of drive and kicks or passes out of the mid post. What we need are guys who don’t over-think the next step off of those passes and just get the shot up off the pass. A lot of our offensive issues last season came after a smart effective pass devolved into some player or other faking a shot that didn’t need to be faked, starting to dribble or looking to make an extra-extra pass. It’s those kind of decisions we need to cut down on if not eliminate.
I honestly still don’t think we have the personnel to be an elite three point shooting team but we do have elite playmakers and scorers in the paint who can create a smart three point attempt. As long as we play a smarter brand of superstar-driven offense we’ll be fine. If we lead the league in smart three point attempts I’ll be pleased as punch. If we lead the league in attempts but are futile in our ability to can those shots we’ll look a lot like last season’s squad. If Anthony Davis can shoot like he did in the Bubble playoffs we could have a shot at doing both, though.
If AD and/or Russ are in the MVP talk it means a lot of things went right this season. It means Davis is shooting often and effectively, defending at a high level, and staying on the court. In Westbrook’s case it would mean that he’s playing smart basketball and focusing on what he does well and not trying to prove to planet Earth he can everything. We don’t need him to do everything, just be the best version of Russ he can be. Like you say, LeBron will be LeBron.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Jamie. It’s going to be a fascinating season for sure. There’s no doubt we need AD to be the player he can be for us to win it all this season. I think LeBron will be LeBron and Russ will be Russ but our championship hopes will ride with AD being the AD from the bubble.
I don’t disagree with your point that smart shot selection is going to be critical with this team. To me, that means Russ, LeBron, and AD all shooting fewer midrange and threes and scoring more points in the paint. Moving LeBron and AD to the four and five with Russ at the one opens the door for the Lakers to become a more lethal points in the paint team. Adding Russ and moving LeBron and AD into the paint is Lakers power move.
Can the Lakers still be an elite 3-point shooting team? That’s a challenge despite all the shooting we added because our core three have not proven they can shoot a high percentage. The only realistic path for the Lakers to become an elite 3-point shooting team is for the Big Three to limit their 3-point attempts and focus on points in the paint, leaving the rest of the team to be the 3-point shooters. With LeBron and AD moving to the four and five, this appears to be something the Lakers will try to accomplish.
Do the Lakers need to shoot a higher volume of threes than the last two seasons? Absolutely. Anybody who thinks differently is wrong. 3-point shooting has become even more important over the last season and the Lakers primary nemesis – the Brooklyn Nets – boast three superstars who are superior 3-point shooters than the Lakers three superstars. That means in some ways the Finals may be a defense vs. offense series. Lakers don’t need to outshoot the Nets but they do need to keep the 3-point differential within reason. Can’t be outshot by 10 threes per game or 30 points.