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Lakers All-Star break: How will Luka fit, and what’s plan at center?

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How does Dončić fit with the current group?

Dončić is a top-three player in the world and gives his team a chance in any setting. Add in LeBron James, who’s easily been a top-10 player over the past two months, and the Lakers have the top-end talent to compete with anyone. They’ve yet to unlock their two-man game together, which should be lethal.

What’s the plan at center?

Over the past seven games, the Lakers rank fourth in defensive rebounds per 100 possessions and 16th in field-goal percentage allowed at the rim. However, that has come in a relatively easy stretch against weaker competition (Washington and Utah) and poor rebounding teams (New York and Indiana). As the sample size grows, those two metrics, particularly the latter, likely will become more concerning.

Can they compete playing small?

With their center problem, the Lakers appear destined to become a small-ball team in the biggest moments of their season. They’ll likely lean on Finney-Smith, Vanderbilt and James to man the backline rotations, clean the defensive glass and protect the rim.

And it might work.

The additions of Finney-Smith (via trade) and Vanderbilt (return from injury) have changed the look of their small-ball lineups. Both forwards play with a level of ferocity that allows them to scale up and defend bigger players adequately.

Lakers lineups without any of their centers on the floor have outscored opponents by 4.4 points per 100 possessions, per Cleaning the Glass. Those lineups with Finney-Smith in the frontcourt have obliterated opponents, outscoring them by 22.7 points per 100 possessions. With Vanderbilt on the floor, they’ve had similar results (plus-21.1 points per 100 possessions). With both players together, the Lakers have outscored opponents by 17.7 points per 100 possessions.

Plenty of teams have succeeded playing small ball over the past decade-plus — including teams led by Dončić and James. But the margin for error is slim. Wings have to communicate more, rotate and scramble harder, battle bigs in the paint and still manage to have enough energy for penetration and shot making on the offensive end.

Nonetheless, it’s easy to envision the Lakers closing games with some two-player combination of Finney-Smith / Vanderbilt / Hachimura / Vincent next to Dončić, James and Reaves.

What are realistic expectations this season?

It’s too early to tell. Dončić has only played in two games.

Putting him to the side for a moment, the Lakers have found their stride over the past few weeks. James has been playing his best basketball of the season, especially on the defensive end. Reaves has emerged as a legitimate third option. Finney-Smith, Vanderbilt and Vincent have stymied opposing perimeter scorers and caused chaos off the bench. Hayes and Hachimura have been more consistent and played with greater physicality in the paint. Redick is pushing all the right buttons, from opponent-specific game plans to the rotation and lineups.

Assuming they can figure out a way to acclimate Dončić, the Lakers should be one of the six or seven best teams in the NBA. With Dončić, James and Reaves, the Lakers have an elite level of playmaking and shot creation — the type few in the league can match. Their offense, once fully formed, easily should be in the league’s top five, if not the top three.

Oklahoma City is the clear favorite in the conference. Denver has been the Lakers’ kryptonite for two seasons — and L.A. is now even more depleted against Nikola Jokić. But there isn’t another team in the West that can definitively be put ahead of them.

The two-way dominance of the past month suggests that this group could reach the conference finals, depending on how the West bracket shakes out. And once there, anything is possible.

How does the offseason play out?

Almost all of these decisions will hinge on how the rest of the season goes, setting up fascinating post-All-Star break stakes.

What’s going on with Mark Williams and Dalton Knecht?

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https://twitter.com/LakerTom/status/1890433890109755443

Buha: Even the Anthony Davis and Luka situation was kind of interesting. Just both guys being injured when they got traded. Then you see Luka comes back and he’s been fine since being back. But AD comes back, he plays one game and he gets re-injured with the same injury or even worse in the same game. It’s kind of a tricky situation here. But my understanding is it would be unprecedented to have a trade reversed. And my understanding is if the Lakers can have an external doctor co-sign their assessment of the situation, they’re going to be fine. And again, for Charlotte optically it was an unfortunate situation for them. And if they’re trying to push for this trade to go through, the optics of it end up looking better for them and worse for the Lakers. But ultimately, I don’t think it’s going to be reversed.

Pundits Warning NBA Teams To Be Aware of the Lakers

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