If any Lakers news this offseason deserved a Woj Bomb, it was Mark Stein’s report that the Lakers covet a “difference-making playmaker who would allow James and Davis to spend more time at power forward and center.”
This is blockbuster news for the Lakersverse. If true, Stein’s report basically says the Lakers are considering abandoning what has been a two-year campaign to accommodate Anthony Davis’ preference not to play the five. While Davis’ best position is the five and the Lakers’ best lineups are with him at the five, Los Angeles finally appears to be ready to commit to James and Davis playing the 4 and 5 in both the regular season and the playoffs.
So why the change in strategy, a move that obviously has to have LeBron James’ and Anthony Davis’ approval as well as the Lakers’ front office and coaching staffs, and how will that impact the team’s offseason moves?
WHAT POSITIONS HAVE LEBRON AND AD BEEN PLAYING?
If Mark Stein’s report proves to be correct, moving LeBron James to the 4 and Anthony Davis to the 5 represents a dramatic and stunning strategic change in how the Lakers will utilize their two superstars next season.
In his three Lakers seasons, James has spent 43% of his regular season minutes and 46% of his playoff minutes at point guard with only 11% of his regular season minutes and 0% of playoff minutes at power forward.
Meanwhile, Davis has played 71% of his regular season minutes and 47% of his playoff minutes at power forward and just 29% of his regular season minutes and 53% of his playoff minutes as a Laker playing center.
The Lakers are now considering making a radical lineup change for the upcoming NBA season by having LeBron James move from point guard to power forward and Anthony Davis move from power forward to center.
WHAT’S BEHIND THE SUDDEN CHANGE IN STRATEGY?
After spending most of last regular season and playoffs actively avoiding LeBron at the four or AD at the five, what happened to suddenly cause the Lakers to decide to change course and embrace a James/Davis four/five?
The easiest explanation is the Lakers know they do not have the cap space or trading chips to transform the current roster to championship caliber so they smartly decided to take better advantage of the personnel they have. The James/Davis small ball lineup is clearly the Lakers best lineup. They just need to add an elite point guard so LeBron could move to the four and rethink how to prevent AD from getting injured so he can play the five.
The Lakers know small ball is the future of the league and moving LeBron to the four and AD to the five will optimize their superstars and make it easier for them to add the shooters and defenders they need to win the title.
HOW WILL THE CHANGE IMPACT LAKERS’ OFFSEASON?
The biggest challenge the Lakers will have converting to a James/Davis small ball lineup for next season is finding a ‘difference-making playmaker’ to replace LeBron James at point guard so he can move to power forward.
A starting lineup with LeBron at the four and AD at the five also opens up an opportunity for the Lakers to add a bigger 3&D wing player like PJ Tucker, who can shoot the corner three and defend high-scoring twos and threes. Tucker would be the perfect player for the Lakers to target as their starting three. Signing him would give the Lakers three starting front court players who could guard all five positions at all three levels of the court.
Finally, whom the Lakers start at shooting guard will depend on whom they acquire to start at the point. If they acquire a point guard who’s a volume deadeye 3-point shooter, then they might survive with THT at the two.
WHY WILL THE LAKERS SMALL BALL LINEUP BE BETTER?
By redeploying their two superstars, the Los Angeles Lakers found a path to rebuild their roster to championship caliber despite not having open cap space for free agents or trading chips to pull off mega deals for elite players.
Starting James at the four and Davis at the five not only takes advantage of the front court pairing the Lakers used to win their 17th NBA championship in last year’s bubble but opens up opportunities for more 3-point shooting. The Lakers have a better chance of finding an elite 3&D wing to start at the three alongside LeBron and AD at the four and five than finding a center to play alongside Davis that wouldn’t be played off the court in the playoffs.
By committing to the James/Davis front court that won the championship, the Lakers have given themselves a chance to roll out their best potential lineup with both of their superstars finally playing their ideal positions.
I still feel like I’m dreaming and am waiting for confirmation that the Lakers are really going to move LeBron to the four and AD to the five. I mean it totally makes sense. At 36, we don’t want to have LeBron get all the wear and tear of bringing the ball up and running the offense and being the primary playmaker. Not at 36. Nor if we can get a legitimate point guard who can shoot the three, get shots for himself and teammates, take care of the ball, and defend both guard positions.
And I’ve been on the AD at the five train from the day we traded for him from the Pelicans. You know these rumors would not be out there unless the Lakers had talked to AD about playing the five and gotten his and LeBron’s approval for the changes. Finding a 3&D small forward is going to be a lot easire than finding a stretch center who can also defend the perimeter, which we don’t really need since we have Anthony Davis.
At any rate, I’m eagerly waiting for the other shoe to drop and can’t wait for the draft and free agency. If true, Stein’s report is the biggest BOMB to hit the Lakersverse this offseason. By repositioning LeBron and AD, the Lakers dramatically changed how the Lakers will play going forward and what they will be trying to do this summer via trade and free agency.
https://youtu.be/UpM8i6KmZiY
I don’t read this as “Lakers abandoning centers” but rather “AD willing to play center like he did prior to the shortened off-season”. As an old NBA beat reporter for the NYT and ESPN I’m sure Marc has his sources but he’s not NBA news ground zero, either. Ill be happy if we bolster the 5 with a defensive-minded center, keep Gasol and get AD to play 20-30% of his minutes at the 5 during the regular season. same for LeBron. We can go skilled for roughly a quarter-ish of an NBA game and Ill be satisified that were both preserving them for the playoffs but also letting that line up generate chemistry. One thing that really needs more attention for this to work is having plus-sized players at other positions. That means no Kemba or Lowry (and if one is hinest both are out of this summer’s price range). In short, I think this signals a willingness to repeat what worked in the banner run and not a whole new Laker world.
Of course, you do. LOL.
Ok Mr. One Source Newsletter… Lol. I knew as soon as that newsletter came out it would occupy your summer. Enjoy the speculating, we’ll see how we’re all feeling when we use the Schroeder trade exception to sign Drummond to a huge deal for 5 years. THAT’S being a realist, er, Debbie Downer. In honesty I don’t know one Laker fan that wouldn’t be happy if AD played more center. But until I see him there in the starting line up and for most of the game in the majority of the games I’ll temper my expectations for the revolution, thank you very much.
Aloha, okay first of all, every Laker fan hopes this is true, myself included. It’s our best line up. However, you are not suddenly going to take the ball out of LeBarons hands. Nor should you. I still don’t see a path to a big time play making point guard. And with LeBron, I don’t see a need to. I think they will look for a scoring PG. I still see us resigning Dennis. He wasnt terrible. He had 2 bad playoff games but he 2 good ones that is over looked. If he works out great. If not, he’s another contract we can trade. If AD does move to the 5 I look for them to try and upgrade scoring at the 2 and 3. Tucker or Batum could both be targets for the 3 in free agency. And Beasley or Buddy could be trade targets.
Here’s a question: What percentage of the game is workable for this to work, based on match ups of course? I would say that this would work for 30-40% of the game, at best. I’m not so much worried about AD (who picks up knick knack injuries no matter what) but LeBron whom has had injuries that devastated our playoff chances in 2 out of 3 seasons as a Laker. Do we really want LeBron hanging with players his size or is it preferable for him to bully guards and small forwards? This is where keeping Kuzma comes into play, you can’t play Kyle against centers, we saw how disasterously that went. But he can hang with a lot of the 4’s in the Association which makes trading him more of a concern since it’s unlikely we’d be bringing back a large player in the doing. Those are my larger concerns, more on the LBJ side than the AD one. I’ve come to a peaceful place in regards to AD getting hurt and sitting out a few games. Just need to avoid major injuries.
This is where I question the choice to pursue another high cost lead guard. Your notion of going hard for Randle, holding into ‘Kieff (although his streaky offense is a huge issue) and the like makes so very much more sense than wasting time going for Ball. I think we could put ourselves in great position by considering the following. Call the Knicks and gauge their interest in a trade for Randle involving Kuzma and KCP, if they are interested in Dennis we can S&T him and add pieces as needed. In reality I think this trade would be more likely later in the season and see if the Knicks are the same Cinderella story or might be coming back down to Earth. The more I think about it the more inclined I am to sign Schroeder to a deal and keep our talent in-house without hard capping