Aloha,
When Russ and LeBron play together they are a plus 7.5. When Thomas joins them it jumps to their plus 19.4. When AD plays with them it’s a plus 1.8.
Interesting stat
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January 8, 2023 11 Comments
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Very interesting stats. I am one of those who would like to see AD play with Thomas Bryant together. That, to me, would be a heck of a lineup.
Bryant is hustling his a$$ off for the team, for his next deal, and possibly to help return the Lakers to relevance. AD was playing like an MVP the difference is TB gets a lot of his production off of pure hustle and effort. He doesn’t get the same leeway Davis does where they’ll dump the ball in while he’s near or on the block and he goes to work. Nor should they with Thomas, he’s a P&R guards dream. He pick and pops 5’ out to the three, he has great hands, he’s more athletic than he looks and he has a quiet strength and toughness.
That’s why I think they could play well together with neither being crowded out. Put TB and 1 of 3 players in the P&R and kick it out to AD for three as the D collapses. Put TB on the strong side w/AD and the ball and let him work the glass. Either player should pull the defense that step out you want to get better driving lanes.
My biggest fear is coach Ham sending him back to the bench and getting too small and/or slow. Bryant keeps up with Russ and Schröder better and more ably than AD and is also better at getying back. Questions about his D have been answered and heres a news flash: he’s not perfect! Few are, especially for the vet min. He’s quickly turned jnto one of the “have to keep” players on the team.
You and I see the same situation with Thomas, Jamie. Guy is great on offense, so-so on defense. I would like to experiment with him in the starting lineup with AD. There are certain teams where the two bigs could be a great option for us and playing with AD would help cover Thomas’ liabilities on that side. Ideally, our backup center shoud be a rim protector. Also depends on whom we get to start at the three.
I think keeping Thomas is more important than Walker. TB’s size and hustle have a bigger impact and hopefully we can find a way to keep him for the MLE or via cap space if we keep Russ, which is another of those impossible to predict situations on this Lakers team. The last five games, Russ has been the Lakers best player as far as NetRtg and Plus/Minus. Russ even had 46 turnovers to just 22 rurnover for 2.1:1 A/TO ratio.
I think he’s average to a little above average on D. He doesn’t produce a lot of blocks or steals, true, but he’s stout and an excellent rebounder which is just as good. I think he’s the biggest reason this 5 gamer has come to be. He’s had a double-double in all of them, I think. He and D Schröder shooting lights out.
The Russ/LeBron pick and roll is everything we wanted the LeBron/AD pick and roll to be.
Thomas has shown this ability before. What’s changed for him is he has found a team that plays as fast as he does. His defense is a bit over blown. Our biggest defensive problem is our small 3 guard line ups where guys just shoot over us. If we could find a decent sized 3 to replace PatBev in starting line up that would do more for us. Even starting Troy again would help. Not sure I’d starting Thomas with AD would be the answer considering LeBron only plays defense in spurts. I can’t blame him, at 38 I don’t think he can do both anymore.
The defense is a huge issue. A few weeks ago on one of the podcast after AD went down I said I thought the Lakers had to choose to be excellent on one end of the floor and that they should choose offense. It feels like they actually made that choice. It’s the right one. Let Russ and Schröder lead the way. Those 2 and TB are a legit, regular season, option.
7 game series you need LBJ and AD. That’s when we’ll want someone like PayBev, he may just end up being the tallest option.
As an example I would not trade PatBev for D’Angelo Russell. Especially not for a first round pick.
I wouldn’t make a trade for anything other than a forward with size. We don’t need guard or center help.
Michael, I agree with both you and Jamie. Thomas Bryant has been a revelation. The reason why I am not surprised by his performance is that I have been following him while he was with the Wizards. He is a keeper in my opinion.