Sometimes you have to wait until a masterpiece is complete to appreciate how great a job the artist did. That’s clearly the case with the Los Angeles Lakers’ offseason rebuild by their VP of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka.
Pelinka launched the offseason by trading for talented 18.9 points per game point guard and 6MOY runner-up Dennis Schroder and followed that by signing 18.6 points per game forward and 6MOY winner Montrezl Harrell. Happy Lakers fans could be forgiven for thinking Pelinka was only making sure the Lakers had enough offensive firepower to take over games when LeBron was resting on the bench or taking a night off for load management.
After all, replacing Rondo and Green’s 15.1 points per game with Schroder and Harrell’s 37.5 points per game was a massive injection of high powered scoring into an offensive roster that was anemic aside from LeBron and AD. Those two moves alone represented a major upgrade on what was already a proven championship roster and would have been enough most offseasons to win Lakers’ VP of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka votes for EOY.
But that’s the problem with judging a work of art before it is completed because basketball pundits and junkies needed to wait until Pelinka was finished to truly appreciate what an incredible masterpiece he had created. Rob wasn’t going to be satisfied with juicing up the Lakers’ offense at the cost of weakening their defense and losing elite defenders like Green and Howard left holes that needed filling in the Lakers’ championship defense.
The missing pieces of the Pelinka’s defensive solution quickly fell into place as the Lakers’ signed veteran 3&D guard Wesley Matthews to replace Danny Green and former DPOY Marc Gasol to replace Dwight Howard at center. The Lakers not only turbocharged their offense by adding last year’s 6MOY winner and runner-up but also elevated their defense by adding two elite defenders who ranked second and third in NBA defensive rating last season.
The result is Pelinka has given head coach Vogel the most versatile roster in the league. Vogel will have the power to use his deep and diverse roster to create nightmare defensive and offensive matchups court at every position. He can play a dominant defensive starting lineup featuring Caldwell-Pope, Matthews, James, Davis, and Gasol or a juggernaut offensive lineup with high-octane scorers in Schroder, Caldwell-Pope, James, Davis, and Harrell.
Last offseason, Rob was hindered by waiting for Kawhi to make a decision. This season, he made sure not to make the same mistake and the result is a Lakers championship team dramatically better at both ends of the court.
From the above article:
“The Lakers not only turbocharged their offense by adding last year’s 6MOY winner and runner-up but also elevated their defense by adding two elite defenders who ranked second and third in NBA defensive rating last season.”
“Vogel can play a dominant defensive starting lineup featuring Caldwell-Pope, Matthews, James, Davis, and Gasol or a juggernaut offensive lineup with high-octane scorers in Schroder, Caldwell-Pope, James, Davis, and Harrell.”
Aside from upgrading a defending championship team to a potentially dominant juggernaut at both ends of the court, Pelinka essentially solved the problem of how the Lakers can run it back after just spending a harrowing two months in the bubble and having no real offseason to recover.
Now LeBron and AD can get as much rest as they want because the Lakers added another 25 points per game with Schroder and Harrell and a modern stretch five center to create better spacing on offense so they’re no longer totally reliant on having LeBron or AD on the floor to score.
And defensively, they upgraded Danny Green and Dwight Howard and got rid of JaVale McGee, who had become unplayable. Finally, Rob Pelinka is runtill not done with three more roster spots to fill. Lakers did not just run it back. They transformed the Lakers into a repeat and threepeat machine. Rob Pelinika showed what he can do when not handicapped by a bad decision to wait for Kawhi.
Lakers going to rule this Covid-19 shortened 72 game season with blowout after blowout. LeBron and AD may not play most fourth quarters. Bench celebrations will be highlight reel stuff. The competition in team scrimmages may be better than many of the games. This may be the most dominant Lakers team ever.
One of the best ways to understand and envision how important the Lakers upgraded depth and versatility are going to be is to look at the possible rotations Frank Vogel may deploy.
Knowing Frank likes stability, here’s a quick take on how the Lakers rotations could look like, ignoring for now the reality that LeBron and AD might see considerable load management to start the season:
STARTING LINEUP:
PG: KCP
SG: Matthews
SF: LeBron
PF: AD
CE: Gasol
That’s basically an upgrade of last season’s starting lineup.
West > Green and Marc > JaVale.
FIRST SUBSTITUTIONS:
Schroder replaces Matthews and Harrell replaces Gasol.
Dennis plays the 1, KCP moves to 2, Trezz plays the 4, and AD moves to 5.
PG: Schroder
SG: KCP
SF: LeBron
PF: Harrell
CE: AD
This could be Lakers highest powered offensive lineup.
It includes what is likely to be the team’s top 5 scorers.
SECOND SUBS:
Caruso replaces KCP, Kuzma replaces LeBron, and Morris replaces Harrell.
PG: Schroder
SG: Caruso
SF: Kuzma
PF: Morris
CE: AD
THIRD SUBS:
Here’s where Lakers need a third center like Dewayne Dedmon.
Matthews replaces Schroder, LeBron replaces Kuzma, Dedmon replaces AD
PG: Caruso
SG: Matthews
SF: LeBron
PF: Morris
CE: Dedmon
CLOSING LINEUP:
AD replaces Dedmon, KCP replaces Matthews, and Schroder replaces Caruso
PG: Schroder
SG: Matthews
SF: LeBron
PF: Morris
CE: AD
This is great combination of offense and defense.
Five shooter who can spread the floor.
Five defenders who can rotate quickly.
Lakers’ Depth Chart Right Now:
PG: KCP, Schroder, Open
SG: Matthews, Caruso, THT
SF: LeBron, Kuzma, McKinnie
PF: AD, Morris, Open
CE: Gasol, Harrell, Open
Not much playing time for the last three players, which could mean guys like Dedmon, Batum, or Thomas might not want to join the Lakers. Maybe best to fill those spots with young prospects like Devontae Cacok, Kostas Antetokounmpo, or Kevon Harris.
Gotta give some credit to Pelinka, he got right after it and has make the team quite a bit better!!!!!!
Thanks for the post, Tom. Great analysis. What a wild week of free agent acquisitions by Rob Pelinka. This has to be one of the best off-season moves by a Lakers GM since Hector was a pup.
I am so filled with excitement to the point where I don’t even know which posts to respond to nowadays. Any time I tune into the blog all I keep getting is a tsunami of good news. And I mean a good dose of it. My goodness.
What Rob Pelinka was able to do this off-season is unbelievable, and I would give him a solid grade A++. Acquiring the top two sixth men of the year in Harrell and Schroder at the same time is like killing two birds with one stone. Adding veterans like Gasol and Mathews and still have 3 more roster spots to fill says a lot about what a genius he is.
Rob Pelinka has shown a mark of excellence to behold and I am very happy for a job well done.
Thanks, Buba. Tsunami of good news, indeed! Well said. That’s exactly what this last week has been. Hope you and your family have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.
To avoid the shopping crowds in the grocery stores, my wife and I had our annual roast turkey dinner Tuesday and I’m now on my second day of glorious leftovers.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family as well, Tom. This year we cancelled our annual road trip because of the pandemic and instead kept it low key at home. Enjoy the holiday.