Lakerholics

A Lakers Fan Community

Anthony Davis

Lakers’ Starting Lineups and Depth Chart Slowly Starting to Crystallize

By 7 Comments

While it’s still early and we haven’t even seen some players play yet, we’re starting to see enough to make a reasonable projection how the Lakers’ starting lineup and depth chart will look come December and January.

While integrating superstars LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook has been challenging, the Lakers still appear to be committed to playing all three superstars to both start and close games and halves. While Frank Vogel hedges his comments by saying there will be times when the Lakers will play two bigs, he also appears firmly committed to Anthony Davis starting and closing games and playing major minutes at center.

Let’s take a look at the Lakers’ roster to see who are favorites to start and the likely candidates to backup the starters when everybody is healthy in December and January heading towards the February 10th trade deadline.

Lakers’ Projected STARTING LINEUP Once Everybody Is Available

With Russell Westbrook at the one, LeBron James at the four, and Anthony Davis at the five locked in to start and finish games and halves, the Lakers’ starters at the two and three will need to provide key spacing and defense.

While Avery Bradley has been starting at shooting guard, it’s unlikely he will be able to hold onto the starting job once everybody is healthy. Like Kent Bazemore, Avery’s future is likely to be a defensive specialist off the bench. That leaves Wayne Ellington, Malik Monk, Kendrick Nunn, and Austin Reaves as the remaining candidates to start at shooting guard. Reaves is a rookie and Nunn hasn’t even played yet and is best fit to backup Westbrook.

That leaves Ellington and Monk as the remaining two top candidates to start. Ellington is kind of the favorite and has slowly been shooting like his resume while Monk is the more versatile option as an uncanny three-level scorer. What will separate the two in coach Vogel’s mind is defense. Monk’s 99.3 defensive rating is the best for any Lakers player who has played in six or more games compared to Ellington’s 8th ranked 107.5 defensive rating.

Talen Horton-Tucker has been starting at small forward and will likely be given the opportunity to retain that role going forward because, while he is only 6′ 4,” he has a 7′ 1″ wingspan and physical strength to play the three. Horton-Tucker’s biggest issue starting alongside James, Davis, and Westbrook is his ability to space the floor with 3-point shooting. The Lakers are giving THT a chance before the trade deadline to prove he can start.

Come December and January, I would not be surprised to see the Lakers’ fivesome that starts and closes games and halves to be Russell Westbrook, Malik Monk, Talen Horton-Tucker, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis.

Lakers’ Projected DEPTH CHART Once Everybody Is Available

Just as LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook were locks for the starting lineup, Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard are sure to be the primary backups for LeBron James at the four and Anthony Davis at the five.

Who will be the primary backups for the one, two, and three is less certain. Rondo’s recent excellent play has reinserted him into the competition with younger Kendrick Nunn to be Westbrook’s primary backup at point guard. While Nunn will get most of the backup minutes at the one, Vogel’s will also give Rajon enough spot minutes to keep him involved and ready to turn into Playoff Rondo once the Lakers finish the season and get into the playoffs.

Assuming Malik Monk starts at the two, Wayne Ellington should beat Avery Bradley out for the primary backup at shooting guard. Vogel still likes Bradley so he’ll get spot minutes as as on-ball defender and spot up shooter. Since Ariza has only played the four the last four seasons and lacks the footspeed to play the three, the Lakers’ backups for the undersized Horton-Tucker at the three will fall to the more undersized Bazemore or Reaves.

Frankly, Talen Horton-Tucker, Kent Bazemore, and Austin Reaves are really shooting guards masquerading as small forwards. The Lakers have a serious shortage of bigger (6′ 6″ to 6′ 8″) 3&D wings that needs to be addressed. Expect the Lakers to keep a close eye on the emerging trade market as the ‘No Trade’ restrictions for Kendrick Nunn ($5M/Year) expire on December 15, 2022 and for Talen Horton-Tucker ($15M/Year) on January 15, 2022.

The Lakers are going to have to make a trade for a bigger 3&D wing like Jerami Grant or Cam Reddish to fix their roster imbalance. The problem is their only major trading chips are Talen Horton-Tucker and Kendrick Nunn. Players like Monk or Ellington, while not making large salaries, still have value for teams needing shooting. The Lakers also don’t have Nunn’s or Monk’s Bird rights, so trading them for the right player could be appealing.

In the end, the Lakers have a serious roster imbalance that will require a major trade at the deadline to fix. Fortunately, the Lakers do have some valuable trading chips to swap to get the bigger 3&D wing they need.

Right now, the Lakers are struggling because of injuries and the trade for Russell Westbrook caused them to undergo what is the equivalent of a metamorphosis from a traditional two-big team to one-big small ball team. Transforming the team to small ball with AD at the five for the entire regular season was hard enough without integrating eleven new players. The injuries to James, Davis, Ariza, Nunn, Ellington, and THT have not helped.

Considering the challenge, the Lakers could easily have a worse record than 8–7. The team just needs to get healthy. With LeBron slated to return Friday against the Celtics and Ariza soon to practice, the Lakers will be fine.

Lakers Fast Break- Anthony Davis Concerns and LeBron Injury Update with “MagicMan” Sean Grice!

By 2 Comments

There’s no question Talen deserves to start. I also think the Lakers need him to be a starter to justify paying him $30M and not trading for Kyle Lowry.

Bottom line, THT looked great tonight, especially the 3-6 from deep and team leading 25 points. He will start but he’s not a great fit with Russ unless he continues to shoot the three well.

However, right now, after 3 games, he’s shooting 40% on 6.7 threes per game. He’s also averaging 23.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg, and 2.0 apg, and just 1.3 topg.

If he continues to post numbers anywhere near these numbers, he will continue to start and become untouchable or a monster trading chip come Feb.

How Trading for Myles Turner Could Resolve Vogel and Davis Center Issues

By 6 Comments

Could the Los Angeles Lakers trading for Myles Turner resolve the ongoing internal conflicts caused by head coach Frank Vogel wanting to play two bigs and superstar center Anthony Davis prefering to play power forward?

While the Lakers initially committed to moving Davis to the five to make the trade for Westbrook work, unexpected early season injuries and Vogel’s stubborn reluctance to play small ball have so far undermined the decision. Frank’s always been true believer that defense starts with rim protection, which is why his first instincts are always to go big rather than small, despite the Lakers having protected the rim better when playing small than big.

While Anthony Davis is better playing center than power forward, let’s examine whether the Lakers could be better if they were to trade for Turner so AD could play his preferred four and Vogel his preferred two bigs.

What Are the Pros and Cons of a Turner and Davis Twin Towers?

Trading for Myles Turner and starting him at center could be a franchise defining move that would stabilize, diversify, and upgrade the Lakers’ front court and make them championship contenders for the next five years.

Aside from enabling Vogel to play two bigs and Davis to play the four, Turner at the five would immediately give the Lakers the defensive rim protector and offensive floor spacer they’ve been trying to acquire the last three years. Adding the 25-year old Turner’s league third best 2.7 blocks per game and 41.2% 3-point shooting on over five threes per game would transform the Lakers’ defense and offense for this season and the foreseeable future.

Suddenly, the Lakers would have their own version of a twin towers front court with the 25-year old Turner and the 28-year old Davis who could put a lid on the basket defensively while still being able to play five-out offensively. Starting Turner at the five would enable Davis to limit his minutes and avoid the banging of playing center and let James focus on playing point forward and becoming the elite 3&D wing the Lakers have desperately needed.

The Lakers’ roster right now badly needs bigs who can protect the paint and stretch the floor like Myles Turner instead of low post traditional centers like DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard who can be played off the court.

Will Turner Be Available and Do the Lakers Have Enough Assets?

The Lakers have long coveted Myles Turner as the perfect defensive rim protector and offensive floor stretcher. The upcoming trade deadline may be the perfect opportunity for the Lakers to make a mega trade for Turner.

The Indiana Pacers are off to a 3–7 start under returning head coach Rick Carlisle, which makes them 13th out of 15 teams in the Eastern Conference, still struggling with the difficult on-court fit between Sabonis and Turner. While Carlisle was brought in to make the Pacers’ two 7-foot 250 pound centers work, he’s already started to stagger Turner’s and Sabonis’ time on the floor to avoid those troublesome, inefficient twin towers lineups.

Unless something changes before the trade deadline, the Pacers are almost guaranteed to look to move Turner since Sabonis is the franchise player. With strong interest in Turner, could the Lakers make a competitive offer? The answer is the Lakers could and should go all-in for Myles Turner. The Lakers should offer Talen Horton-Tucker ($10M/Year), Kendrick Nunn ($5M/Year), and Malik Monk ($2.6M/Year) for Myles Turner ($18M/Year).

Next to LeBron James, Myles Turner is the best possible fit next to Anthony Davis in the league today. He is the perfect front court mate to play next to AD and lead the Lakers to championships for the next five years.

How Would Turner Trade Impact Lakers’ Championship Quest?

Trading for Myles Turner is the Lakers’ guaranteed ticket to a championship. He not only makes the Lakers a juggernaut offensively and defensively but also saves wear-and-tear on injury prone LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Myles Turner could have a bigger impact on the Lakers’ championship hopes than Russell Westbrook because he helps solve some of the serious floor spacing and perimeter defensive problems caused by the trade for Russ. Integrating Turner would be child’s play compared to integrating Westbrook. Myles’ 41% 3-point shooting will help the Lakers’ starting lineup spacing while his 2.7 blocks per game will help their perimeter defense.

While the Lakers would give up the 20-year Horton-Tucker, the 26-year old Nunn, and the 23-year old Monk, they would be getting the durable 25-year old Myles Turner, who has averaged 65 games over his six-year pro career. While giving up a home grown star like THT is painful, he’s still two or three years away from being a starter and Nunn and Monk don’t have Bird rights so there is no realistic way the Lakers would be able to keep them.

What it comes down to is the Lakers would be trading the tomorrow of 20-year old Talen Horton-Tucker for the today and tomorrow of 25-year old Myles Turner and an improved chance to win their 18th championship.

Lakers’ Win Shows Third Superstar Is the Key to Winning When LeBron Sits

By 7 Comments

The Lakers’ overtime win over the Spurs without James last night showed why trading for a third superstar in Russell Westbrook is going to pay off big for Los Angeles as it‘s the key to winning the non-LeBron minutes.

The NBA experts and pundits disapproved of the Lakers’ decision to trade for Russell Westbrook because he wasn’t the elite 3-point shooter the team needed to create spacing for superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis. What they ignored was the impact Russell Westbrook as a third superstar could have on the Lakers’ single biggest weakness, which was winning the minutes and games when LeBron James was not on the court.

So let’s take a closer look at what may be the single most important thing about the Lakers’ bold and controversial decision to trade for Russell Westbrook and go all-in on creating their own Superstar Big Three.

WHY WINNING NON-LEBRON MINUTES IS IMPORTANT

Since they signed James three years ago, the Lakers have yet to finish a season with a positive net rating for the time LeBron is not on the court. Even in the championship season, they lost the non-LeBron minutes.

LeBron was +2.4 points on the floor and -5.9 points off the floor for a -8.3 differential his first Lakers season and +9.0 point on the floor and -0.9 points off the floor for a 9.9 differential during the team’s championship season. The trend of the non-LeBron minutes being the Lakers’ Achilles heel continued last season as LeBron was +8.6 points on the floor and -2.0 points off the floor for a -10.6 differential, his worst as a Laker.

Last night, the Lakers got their first tangible return on their gamble that adding a third superstar like Russell Westbrook would be the key to eliminating their Achilles heel and winning the critical non-LeBron minutes. Winning without LeBron is a big deal. The Lakers have always had a strong positive net rating when LeBron plays. What chance do opponents have if the Lakers now also dominate the non-LeBron minutes?

That’s why winning without LeBron last night was important because the Lakers traded for Westbrook in the hope he would give them a legitimate third superstar, who could with AD win the non-LeBron minutes.

HOW THIRD SUPERSTAR INSURES AGAINST INJURIES

It’s not a coincidence Rob Pelinka went all-in to acquire a third superstar after the Lakers’ lost LeBron James and Anthony Davis to injuries and suffered an embarrassing first round exit in the playoffs to the Suns.

Pelinka had seen how having three superstars had enabled the Brooklyn Nets to survive an injury plague after losing Kevin Durant for 37 games, James Harden for 36 games, and Kyrie Irving for 18 games last season. Brooklyn proved that having a third superstar could be an invaluable insurance policy against injuries to one of their three superstars. That’s why Pelinka jumped at the chance to trade for Russell Westbrook.

Having that third superstar who could cover when one of their three superstars were out with injury enabled the Nets to post a 48–24 record, second best in the East and fourth best in the entire league last season. Unfortunately, the Nets were unable to build the chemistry needed in the playoffs during their disjoined regular season and ultimately lost in the conference semi-finals to the eventual champion Milwaukee Bucks.

How the Nets survived the injuries to their superstars clearly caught Rob Pelinka’s attention and was a major factor in the Lakers’ decision to trade for Russell Westbrook and build a superstar big three to match the Nets.

WHY WESTBROOK OVER HIELD WAS RIGHT DECISION

Russell Westbrook’s stats for last night’s game were 33 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, and 3 steals with only 3 turnovers while shooting 15 of 27 from the field, including 10 of 14 or 71.4% in the restricted zone.

While Buddy Hield is an elite 3-point shooter, he could not have done what Russell Westbrook did last night to help the Lakers beat the Spurs in overtime. It’s the difference between an elite role player and a superstar. While Russ doesn’t solve the Lakers’ need for high volume and quality 3-point shooting, he brings the Lakers exactly what they need to win a championship: a legitimate third superstar for the non-LeBron minutes.

The next major step for the Lakers is to figure out how to replicate the play we got from Russ and AD last night to win the 12 minutes in every single game the Lakers are losing when LeBron James is on the bench resting. Eventually, Russell Westbrook figuring out how to win when LeBron James is not available or is on the bench will ease the concerns and prove to the doubters that Russ is a great fit as the Lakers’ third superstar.

Once the Lakers learn how to apply what they’re learning from playing games without LeBron to the minutes each game when James rests, they will be on their way to becoming an unstoppable offensive juggernaut.

The Westbrook Rules: How the Lakers Can Best Optimize Russell Westbrook!

By 2 Comments

The question is not whether Russell Westbrook can make his game fit with LeBron James and Anthony Davis but whether the Lakers can adjust their team style of play to optimize and unleash Russell Westbrook.

The Lakers know the only way Westbrook is going to work alongside James and Davis is if the two superstars adjust their games and roles to accommodate Russ rather than asking him to change the way he plays. James giving up the ball and moving to four and Davis giving up power forward and moving to the five are moves the Lakers have to make to give Westbrook at the one a chance to be a championship caliber lineup.

While Russ had a dud of a game against the Warriors, the Lakers did not play him in lineups that complemented strengths like his ability to attack the rim or mitigated weaknesses like not being a good jump shooter. Instead of playing Westbrook with at least two respected 3-point shooters to create space for him to attack the rim, the Lakers basically played him in lineups where opposing defenses could turn him into a jump shooter.

What the Lakers need to do is establish the Westbrook Rules, a set of guidelines to ensure Russ will be surrounded by players who complement his strengths and mitigate his weaknesses whenever he is in the game.

Westbrook Rule #1: Surround Russ with Elite Shooters

Even before trading for Russell Westbrook, packing the paint was already the preferred league strategy for preventing LeBron James and Anthony Davis from attacking the rim and turning them into jump shooters.

With Russell Westbrook joining LeBron James and Anthony Davis, teams are going to double and triple down on that strategy. Better to give James, Davis, and Westbrook wide open jumpers than let them get to the rim. Tuesday night, the Warriors executed that plan to perfection, limiting LeBron to two shots at the rim and four in the paint and forcing him to take six shots from midrange and a eleven threes from beyond the arc.

While teams will pack the paint regardless of whom the Lakers have on the court, the Lakers still need to counter this strategy by making sure to pair two high quality 3-point shooters whenever they play their big three. That means they can’t waste one of the two shooting spots next to the big three in their starting lineup on a low post traditional center like DeAndre Jordan or Dwight Howard. They need to start two capable 3&D players.

Tuesday night, Russ played 16 of his 35 minutes with a low post center and a single 3-point shooter in the lineup. Westbrook Rule #1 should be to always surround Russ with multiple 3-point shooters in every lineup.

Westbrook Rule #2: Surround Russ with Elite Defenders

Integrating Russell Westbrook into a Lakers team with a ‘defense first’ coach like Vogel and a top ranked defense in the NBA last season despite losing James and Davis to major injuries will clearly be a challenge.

Vogel struggled with his rotations in the opening game against the Warriors on Tuesday night, mainly because of the nagging injuries that have rendered Ariza, Horton-Tucker, Nunn, and Ellington unavailable. That forced Vogel to play Russ in lineups with other guards whose strengths were not defense. Defending Curry and Poole with Westbrook and Rondo or Westbrook and Monk should never have seen the court.

The Warriors destroyed the Russ and Rondo and Russ and Monk lineups. Vogel played Westbrook with Rondo for 7 minutes Tuesday night for a -70 net rating and Russ with Monk for 12 minutes for a -69.8 net rating. While only one game, the Lakers will face this dilemma all season long: How do they get shooters in the game without compromising their defense. The answer could be more Kent Bazemore and Avery Bradley.

Frank Vogel did not do Russell Westbrook a favor by playing him with Rajon Rondo or Malik Monk for 19 of his 35 minutes. Westbrook Rule #2 should be to always surround Russ with elite defenders in every lineup.

Westbrook Rule #3: Encourage Russ to Be Russ

While the Lakers need to put Westbrook in lineups that complement his strengths and hide his weaknesses, they also need Russ to be Russ. That’s what was really missing from the Lakers’ effort against the Warriors.

The Lakers need Westbrook to be the relentless, fearless, attack dog player who averaged a triple-double in four of his last five seasons. While they want better shot selection and defense, they want Russ to be Russ. The Lakers didn’t trade for a dumbed down version of Russell Westbrook. They traded for a third superstar with the idea it would be James and Davis rather than Westbrook who would have to make more adjustments.

Frank Vogel has said Russell Westbrook’s poor first game was on him for not doing the things needed to allow Russ to be Russ and promised the Lakers would make adjustments tonight to complement and unleash Russ. Regardless of the adjustments the Lakers make, the onus has is still on Westbrook to be more aggressive, to find ways to get to the basket. Russ needs to come out and be himself, play the game like he always has.

I expect Russ to come out in full-throttle Russell Westbrook mode tonight, looking for redemption for last Tuesday night. Westbrook Rule #3 should be to always encourage Russ to be Russ in every lineup.