Anthony Davis

D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves Final Series As Los Angeles Lakers?

April 21, 2024 By LakerTom 16 Comments

After losing a 9th straight game and critical 3-point battle to the Denver Nuggets, D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves suddenly find themselves facing their possible final series as members of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Monday night’s critical Game 2 in Denver now looms as the last legitimate opportunity for Russell and Reaves to show Lakers’ ownership, front office, and coaching staff that they’re the backcourt of the future for this team.
After again being outscored from deep by the Denver Nuggets, the Los Angeles Lakers find themselves on the brink of falling behind 2–0 and potentially suffering their second straight humiliating playoff sweep.

Unless Russell and Reaves can bounce back Monday and help the Lakers even their first round series with the Nuggets at 1 game each, it’s highly unlikely either player would still be wearing purple and gold next year.
That means Monday night’s Game 2 in Denver is a ‘must win’ game that will not only determine who likely wins this series but could also have major ramifications on what the Los Angeles Lakers decide to do this summer.

Getting swept again by the Nuggets would likely result in the Lakers finally accepting they could not win a championship with a D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves backcourt and moving on from both players this summer.
Bouncing back with a big win to tie the series on Monday, however, could completely change the dynamic of the Lakers’ playoffs and set them up for what could be a dramatic 6-game first round triumph over the Nuggets.

Let’s take a closer look at what happened last night and what the Lakers need to change in Game 2 on Monday to even up the series and get back on track to upsetting the world champion Nuggets in 6-game series.

What Lakers Hoped Would Happen in Game 1?

Since February 1, the Los Angeles Lakers have transformed their formula for winning games by shooting a dramatically higher percentage on 3-point shots, reducing their reliance on points in the paint and made free throws.

As you can see from the above chart, the Lakers’ formula from the start of the season to the end of January has essentially been the same as it has been since the Lakers signed LeBron James as a free agent 4 years ago.
The Lakers lose close to 10 points per game from their 3-point shooting differential but are able to make up most of that difference by outscoring opponents via made free throws and points in the point per game.

Starting back in February, when Darvin Ham reinstated D’Angelo Russell as the team’s starting point guard, the Lakers’ 3-point shooting has taken off and L.A. has shot a torrid 39.3% from deep, second best in the league.
The result has been a Lakers team that went 23–10 (5th best in league) with an offensive rating of 118.4 (3rd best in the league), a defensive rating of 114.7 (21st in the league), and a net rating of 3.7 (12th in the league).

The Lakers thought improved 3-point shooting would fix their problem with the Nuggets in last season’s conference finals where Denver outscored them on threes by 15 points per game in a series lost by 6 points per game.
Unfortunately, the Lakers laid an egg and shot a miserable 27.6% on just 29 attempts while the Nuggets shot 35.7% on 42 attempts, leading to a huge negative 21-point 3-point shooting differential in a game lost by 11 points.

Lakers need to stay positive and understand this is a 7-game series and all the Nuggets did was hold home court in Game 1. Lakers improved 3-ball game is legitimate. All they need to do is to hit their shots Monday night.

What Has To Happen In Game 2 For Lakers To Win?

The Los Angeles Lakers must take and make more 3-point shots Monday night than they did last night if they want to have a realistic chance at surviving and winning this first round series against the Denver Nuggets.

The above chart shows the Lakers individual player 3-point stats since February 1st. L.A. has 3 starters shooting over 40% and 4 starters shooting better than the 36% league average. Only Anthony Davis is below 37%.
The Lakers backcourt of D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves are the team’s two highest volume 3-point shooters, averaging 8.6 and 5.5 attempted threes per game, followed by LeBron James 4.8 attempted threes per game.

While James shot well from deep hitting 3 of 5, Russell was a dreadful 1 of 9, Reaves 2 of 6, Hachimura 2 of 4, Davis 0 of 4, and Prince 1 of 3. As a team, the Lakers only took 29 threes while making just 8 for a miserable 27.6%.
The poor 3-point shooting hurt the Lakers’ spacing and made it difficult for LeBron James and Anthony Davis to attack the paint, resulting in L.A. actually losing the points-in-the-paint battle by 10 points to the Nuggets.

The Lakers will need to hit their 3-point shots Monday night if they hope to have a realistic chance to even the series at 1 game each. They don’t need to shoot 40% but they at least need to make enough threes to win the game.
Last night, the Lakers lost the game by 11 points. Had they shot 12 for 29 instead of 8 for 29, they would have won the game. The reality is the Lakers need to take and make more threes if they want to win on Monday night.

The Lakers made the dramatic improvement in 3-point shooting they needed. Now they just need to go out there and shoot the ball the way they’ve done the last couple of months. Do that and they’ll beat Denver.

Five Questions That Will Determine Whether Lakers Can Upset Nuggets

April 18, 2024 By LakerTom 20 Comments

While the Nuggets are a tough matchup for the Lakers, having swept them in last year’s conference finals and beaten them eight straight games, this is not this year’s conference finals and these are not last year’s Lakers team.

The media loves to create headline stories about how the Nuggets are the Lakers’ daddy and how L.A. will be lucky to win one or two games at best from Denver when the two teams meet in the first round of the playoffs.
What the media is not considering is a first round playoff series between the Lakers and Nuggets will be dramatically different than those two teams meeting in the conference finals after getting rolling with two series wins.

Having to face a very dangerous Lakers team in the playoffs first round is definitely not what Mike Malone and the Nuggets would have preferred, especially considering how red hot the Lakers have been the last month.
The Lakers would have finished April undefeated were it not one loss without both James and Davis and one without Davis. They still finished 5–2 with the #5 offensive rating, #15 defensive rating, and #10 net rating.

Meanwhile, the Nuggets blew a 23-point lead and lost 121–120 to the #14 Spurs, not only losing the #1 seed to the Thunder and falling to #2 but also suddenly finding themselves facing the hungry and dangerous Lakers.
Unlike last season when the Lakers were tired, weary, and slowed by injuries by the time they got to the conference finals, this time Los Angeles will be fresher, deeper, bigger, healthier, and hungrier than Denver.

The oddsmakers have the Nuggets as heavy favorites to beat the Lakers in their first round matchup. $100 bet on the Lakers to win would bring back $275. Gamblers would have to put up $350 to win $100 if Denver triumphs.
The path for the Lakers who are the road team to win the series is to steal one of the first two games in Denver, sweep Games 3 and 4 in Los Angeles, lose Game 5 in Denver, and close out the series by taking Game 6 in L.A.

The answers to these five critical roster questions will determine whether the Los Angeles Lakers can pull off a surprise upset of the world champion Denver Nuggets in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs.

Can AD Control The Joker?

If the Los Angeles Lakers are going to upset the Denver Nuggets in their first round series, Anthony Davis will have to figure out how to match or neutralize Nikola Jokic, who’s now likely to win his second MVP award.

In last year’s conference finals, the Nuggets swept the Lakers in four games, three of which were close games, with Nikola Jokic supposedly dominating Anthony Davis at both ends of the court during the series.
Just like the media likes to portray the Nuggets as having dominated the Lakers in last year’s conference finals, they also love pushing the story that Jokic dominated Davis, even though their individual stats were similar.

In last year’s conference finals, Jokic averaged 27.8 points, 14.5 rebounds, 11.8 assists, 1.3 steals, 1.3 blocks, 3.8 turnover in 42.0 minutes per game shooting 50.6% from the field, 47.1% from deep, and 77.8% from the line.
Anthony Davis meanwhile averaged a similar 26.8 points, 14.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.3 steals, 2.8 blocks, 1.5 turnovers in 41.2 minutes per game shooting 49.3% from the field, 50.0% from deep, and 87.5% from the line.

While Jokic and Davis seem to be fairly equal when it came down to the individual stats for last season’s conference finals, it seemed that every time the Nuggets needed a big play, Nikola was there while AD was not.
This was confirmed by Joker dominating AD in plus/minus, where he posted a +9.8 vs. AD’s -9.0. Jokic’s plus/minus for the series was topped only by Murray’s +10.0 whereas AD’s -9.0 was second worst to Russell’s -11.8.

The major challenge for the Lakers is deciding how to guard Nikola Jokic. Do they have Anthony Davis or Rui Hachimura defend Nikola Jokic? Or do they double or trap the Joker in pick-and-rolls to get ball out of his hands?
Ideally, the Lakers’ best option may be to force Jokic to be a scorer rather than a facilitator, which would mean having Davis defend him one-on-one with the other defenders sticking with the other Nuggets and not helping.

The Lakers need to make Nikola Jokic one dimensional by turning him into a scorer on offense with Anthony Davis playing him one-on-one and a target on defense with AD attacking him in the paint and from the line.

Can LeBron Still Dominate?

While Anthony Davis holding his own with Nikola Jokic is critical, the Lakers will also need 39-year old LeBron James to be dominant like he has been this season if they hope to upset the Nuggets in the first round.

Meeting the Nuggets in the first round could actually be an advantage for the Lakers as LeBron James should be much healthier and fresher than he was when L.A. played Denver in last season’s Western Conference Finals.
More importantly, James worked hard this offseason to fix his 3-point shot and the result has been great. Since February 1, LeBron has averaged 2.0 made threes per game on 4.6 attempts per game for 43.5% from deep.

LeBron James’ 21st season might go down as one of the best in his career. Since February 1, LeBron has averaged 26.9 points, 7.0 rebounds, 9.3 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.5 blocks, and 3.7 turnovers in 36.2 minutes per game.
The turnaround in James’ and the Lakers’ 3-point game as a team has been one of L.A.’s major improvements on offense since last year’s conference finals, where James shot just 26.9% and the team just 34.9% from deep.

The other area where James contributions will be dramatically greater than in last year’s conference finals will be defensively. LeBron is now in full playoff mode, which means he is no longer taking off plays on defense.
The defensive job LeBron James did on Zion Williamson to win a spot in th0e 7/8 Play-In game last Sunday was elite and showed that the King is not afraid to take on tough defensive assignments when needed by his team.

One adjustment the Lakers will need to make for the Denver series is to run more plays and rely less on Davis and James isolation plays. The Lakers are a better and more dangerous team when their offense is less predictable.
The perfect example was James turning control over to Reaves, whose elite drive-and-dish to Russell for the clutch corner three that essentially sealed the Los Angeles Lakers’ Play-In win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

For the Los Angeles Lakers to upset the world champion Denver Nuggets in their looming first round playoff matchup, they will need a healthier and fresher LeBron James to outplay Jamal Murray and lead his team to victory.

Can DLO Redeem Himself?

After being played off the court against the Denver Nuggets in last year’s conference finals and almost being traded at the trade deadline, D’Angelo Russell proceeded to reinvent himself as the third star the Lakers needed.

After getting injured and losing his starting point guard role in December, D’Angelo Russell’s future with the Lakers looked shaky at best. While sitting on the bench, however, DLO came up with a career-defining observation.
Rather than deferring to superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, DLO realized that the smarter thing to do was to be extremely aggressive to take full advantage of the lack of attention paid to him by opposing defenses.

When Darvin Ham re-inserted D’Angelo Russell back into the Lakers’ starting lineup, he suddenly became an entirely different player, increasing his shot attempts and reinventing himself as a volume 3-point shooter.
Over last half of the regular season, DLO averaged 20.4 points, 3.2 boards, 6.5 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.5 blocks, 2.3 turnovers in 35.5 minutes per game shooting 45.0% from field, 42.6% from deep, and 85.7% from the line.

D’Angelo Russell provided the Lakers with the elite high volume, high percentage, lethal, dead-eye 3-point shooter they desperately needed to create space for and complement LeBron and AD as the team’s third star.
Darvin Ham has also shown more patience with Russell and has given him a green light to shoot as many threes as he can. Hopefully, Ham trusts DLO enough to give him the rope he needs when the Lakers play the Nuggets.

For his part, D’Angelo has continued to be aggressive both with his volume 3-point shooting, crafty drives into the paint, and top grade playmaking. He finished the second half of the season taking almost as many shots as LBJ.
In the process of reinventing himself, DLO set a new franchise record for the most 3-point shots made by a Lakers player in a single regular season, by making a grand total of 226 3-point shots during the 2023–24 season.

D’Angelo Russell has a legitimate opportunity to become the Los Angeles Lakers’ point guard of the future if he can redeem himself and deliver as the third Lakers star LeBron James and Anthony Davis desperately need.

Can Lakers Control Murray?

While Nikola Jokic is the sun around which the Nuggets universe revolves, Jamal Murray is the player the Lakers need to control if they’re going to have any chance to upset the Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.

It was Murray who destroyed the Lakers perimeter defenders to lead the Nuggets with 32.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.8 steals, 0.5 blocks, 1.8 turnovers in 41.1 minutes per game with shooting splits of 52.7/40.5/95.0%.
Jamal not only had a team best +10.0 plus/minus per game for the series but also recorded the biggest jump in points per game in NBA history going from 20.0 ppg for regular season to 32.5 for Western Conference Finals.

In last year’s conference finals, Murray was defended by multiple Lakers players, including Dennis Schroder, Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell, and Jarred Vanderbilt, none of whom had the defensive chops to slow Jamal.
This season, the Lakers replaced Schroder with Gabe Vincent, who’s finally healthy and has shown promise as an elite point-of-attack defender along with Spencer Dinwiddie, both of whom will be called to guard Murray.

The Lakers’ strategy for Jamal Murray should be similar to their strategy for Nikola Jokic, which is to defend him one-on-one without trapping and doubling and don’t allow him to be both a big-time scorer and facilitator.
The key is not allowing Murray to raise his regular season scoring average from 20.0 ppg to 32.5 ppg in the conference finals. This season, Murray averaged 21.2 ppg this season. Lakers will need to hold him to 25.0 ppg.

As with Jokic, the Lakers have to make Murray work on defense, which should be easier this season since the Lakers have now built strong, solid continuity with a starting lineup that’s become an offensive juggernaut.
With guards Russell and Reaves, forwards James and Hachimura, and center Davis, the Lakers starting lineup boasts players who can easily make Jamal Murray work on defense and hopefully get him into foul difficulty.

The Lakers need to control Jamal Murray offensively with elite one-on-one defense and not allow him to average 30.0 ppg and defensively by attacking him and running offense through Russell, Reaves, or whomever he guards.

Can L.A. Outshoot Denver?

The Lakers’ surprise wild card in their upcoming first round matchup with the world champion Nuggets will be their sudden dramatic improvement in 3-point shooting proficiency led by LeBron James and D’Angelo Russell.

Since LeBron James joined the Lakers, the team’s winning formula has been to dominate points-in-the-paint and free-throws-made by +10 points per game to offset their -10 points per game 3-point shooting differential.
But since February 1, the Lakers have continued to win PIP and FTM by 10 points per game but are now close to breaking even when it comes to the threes they made versus the threes made by opponents in any game.

Since February 1, the Lakers’ 39.3% 3-point percentage was the best in the Western Conference and second best in the entire NBA behind the Celtics 39.9%. The Nuggets meanwhile shot 38.1% from deep, which was 7th.
The Nuggets are going to see a much more dangerous 3-point shooting Lakers team in the first round of the playoffs than the one they easily outshot from deep by 40.3% to 34.9% during last year’s conference finals.

In last year’s conference finals, the Nuggets won the 3-point shooting battle over the Lakers by 15.8 points per game. Note that this was in a four-game playoff series where they won each game by an average of just 6.0 points.
Imagine how different the upcoming first round battle is going to be if the Lakers actually outscore the Nuggets from deep. The Lakers newfound 3-point shooting prowess has totally changed their formula for winning.

By changing their winning formula, the Lakers have a unique opportunity to pull off a blockbuster upset that not only eliminates their primary West competitor but also leaves the door to the 2024 NBA Finals wide open.
The Lakers new 3-point shooting prowess has completed a transformation of their offense into a juggernaut where they can win games by raining threes as well as dominating points-in-the-paint and free-throws-made.

The Lakers changing their formula for how to win games so they no longer lose the 3-point shooting battles is their surprise wild card that will erase the Nuggets traditional edge and help the L.A. upset Denver in 6 games.

How Lakers Have Become A Team Nobody Wants To Meet In Playoffs

April 4, 2024 By LakerTom 4 Comments

While they’ve sputtered most of the year and will likely have to win a play-in game to make the postseason, the Los Angeles Lakers have suddenly become the scary, dangerous team nobody wants to meet in the playoffs.

What’s suddenly made the Lakers so dangerous is not just that they’re winning, it’s how and to whom they’re doing it. After a midseason offensive transformation, the Lakers are now healthy and peaking at the right time.
While they’re still playing bully ball and dominating points-in-the-paint and free-throws-made, the Lakers have suddenly transformed their poor 3-point shooting from their worst team weakness into a new found strength.

L.A.’s 3-point shooting transformation has totally changed their blueprint or formula for how to win games. Since February 1st, L.A.’s 39.6% on threes is second best in the entire NBA and their 20–8 win-loss record third best. Over the last three months, the Lakers have increased the number of threes they make per game while reducing the number of threes opponents make per game so their 3-point differential per game is now very close to zero.

Slowly but surely, the Lakers have completely transformed their 3-point shooting from their greatest weakness to a new found strength. The first three months, the Lakers lost 3-point differential by -9.6 points (10.9–14.1).
After losing the January 3–point war by -9.9 points (11.8–15.1), the Lakers improved, only losing February by -3.3 points (12.3–13.4), March by -1.2 points (13.3–13.7), and finally breaking even over last 9-games (13.0–13.0).

In the process, the Lakers have also shown that they can hold their own against the top teams in the league, posting big wins over top-10 teams like the Celtics, Timberwolves, Thunder, Bucks, Clippers, Suns, and 76ers.
While they need to prove they can beat teams like the Nuggets and Jazz, whose low-gravity centers Jokic and Sabonis are tough matchups for AD, the Lakers have become the team nobody wants to meet in the playoffs.

Let’s take a closer look at how the Lakers new found 3-point shooting prowess has changed their formula for winning games and made them a far scarier and far more dangerous team to meet in the NBA playoffs.

Lakers Confident of Playoff Chances Regardless of Seeding

Western Conference Standings April 4, 2024

Right now, the Los Angeles Lakers are 9th in the West with a 44–33 record, just 1.0 game behind the 8th place Sacramento Kings and only 1.5 games behind the 7th place New Orleans Pelicans and 6th place Phoenix Suns.

Moving up the Western Conference competitive standings has been extremely difficult. Despite winning 22 of their last 33 games, the Lakers have been stuck in 9th or 10th place in the West for the last 74 days.
L.A. has been locked in 9th or 10th place in the West since January 21st when their win-loss record was 22–22. Now they find themselves with just 5 games left in the season to move up to the 6th, 7th, or 8th seed in West.

At this point, the Lakers’ are understandably strategically not worrying about their final seeding and instead are just focused on winning every single game they play, confident they can survive the play-in tourney.
With James and Davis healthy and playing like top-10 superstars, a starting lineup that’s an offensive juggernaut, and dramatically improved 3-point shooting, the Lakers have become every NBA team’s worst nightmare.

The Lakers’ 5 remaining games will include home games against the Cavs, Warriors, and Timberwolves and road games against the Grizzlies and Pelicans. The Lakers’ goal is to win all 5 games to finish year with 49 wins.
The Kings lead the Lakers by 2 losses and have 3 road games against the Knicks, Celtics, and Nets and 3 home games against the Pelicans, Suns, and Trail Blazers. The Kings won season series and own tiebreaker over Lakers.

The Pelicans have 5 games remaining in the season. They’re at home for the Spurs game next and the Lakers on last day of the season. In between, they have 3 road games against the Trail Blazers, Kings, and Warriors.
Finally, the Phoenix Suns have 6 games remaining in the regular season, including home games against the Timberwolves, Pelicans, and Clippers followed by road games against the Clippers, Kings, and Timberwolves.

The Los Angeles Lakers are confident they can survive the play-in tourney and make the NBA playoffs as the 7th or 8th seed, win first round matchup against the Timberwolves, Nuggets, or Thunder, and move on from there.

Lakers Suddenly Getting Healthy And Peaking At Right Time

Over last 9 games, the Lakers led the entire league in multiple categories, including their 8–1 record, 123.3 points per game, 22.3 free throw makes per game, 40.8 defensive rebounds per game, and 49.9 rebounds per game.

While winning 8 of 9 games, the Lakers had the NBA’s 10th best offensive rating, 5th best defensive rating, and 6th best net rating. Most importantly, they avoided a negative 3-point shooting differential during those 9 games.
Instead, they made same number of threes as they allowed opponents to make during 9-game stretch for a 0.0 3-point shooting differential while still winning PIP by 8.9 points, FTM by 3.6 points, for total of 12.5 points.

Over that recent 9-game stretch, the Los Angeles Lakers’ starting lineup shot lights out, averaging a red hot 105.4 ppg, led by Davis’ 27.4 ppg, James 24.8 ppg, Russell’s 20.0 ppg, Hachimura’s 17.2 ppg, and Reaves 16.0 ppg.
Most importantly, the Lakers continued to shoot the ball well from every level, shooting a league third-best 49.7% from the field, a league 10th-best 38.0% from deep, and a league 5th-best 82.4% from the free throw line.

Ideally, the Lakers will win their five remaining games and at least jump from 9th place in the West to 7th or 8th place or with a little bit of good luck all the way up to 6th place in the West to avoid the play-in tournament.
Regardless, the Lakers are not worried about their seeding and are fully confident they can handle whatever challenge is put in front of them. They just need to keep on focusing on winning every single game they play.

The beauty of their new winning formula is the Lakers no longer need to have a 10 point advantage in points-in-the-paint and free-throws-made to offset a negative 10-point disadvantage from 3-point shooting differential.
Being able to transform their 3-point shooting from a big disadvantage to a positive advantage has completely transformed the Lakers’ chances to win their 18th NBA championship from a pipe dream to a possible miracle.

The Los Angeles Lakers will start the NBA playoffs as one of the hottest and healthiest teams in the NBA and a team that none of the other teams in the West want to meet in the first two rounds or the East in the NBA Finals.

Lakers Need To Go Big In Playoffs With Vanderbilt Replacing Reaves

March 21, 2024 By LakerTom 8 Comments

The Lakers can fix their broken point-of-attack defense without hurting their top-5 offense by going big and positionless and starting 6′ 10″ Jarred Vanderbilt at shooting guard and moving Austin Reaves to 6th man.

Right how, the #9 Lakers are essentially locked in a battle with the #10 Golden State Warriors for the second Play-In game. The Lakers are 3 games behind the #8 Phoenix Suns and 3 games ahead of #11 Houston Rockets.
With 13 games to go, the Lakers would prefer to only have to win one game to make the playoffs rather than two but their focus right now is more on getting fully healthy, fixing their defense, and playing well than moving up.

The Lakers’ acceptance that they’d need to win two Play-In games to make the playoffs could quickly change if the Mavs, Suns, and/or Kings stumble. But the Lakers are confident. They just need to be playing their best to win.
For now, the Lakers don’t care who they have to play or whom they have to go through. They’re confident, if they’re finally healthy and playing their best basketball, they have a chance to win another NBA championship.

While the Lakers will need to be more consistent to have even a puncher’s chance at winning their 18th NBA championship, there’s no doubt they’re the team nobody wants to meet in the Play-In Tournament or Playoffs.
Not with LeBron James and Anthony Davis healthy and thriving, the Lakers suddenly transformed into a top-10 3-point shooting team, and their elite roster depth and talent finally getting healthy and close to returning.

So, assuming Vando is healthy for the playoffs, let’s take a look at what going big and positionless and swapping him for Austin Reaves does for the Lakers’ starting lineup and rotation and why it’s their best possible move.

Why Not Vanderbilt for Hachimura

The problem with starting Jarred Vanderbilt for Rui Hachimura is it still leaves the Lakers with two starting guards in D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves who are poor defenders and does not add needed size to roster.

The fact that Vando will most likely defend the other team’s top scorer, most likely a guard or wing, further exacerbates the Lakers’ team defense as it logically forces Russell or Reaves to have to defend a bigger forward.
Since Vando will usually defend guards or wings, it makes sense for him to replace one of the Lakers two offense-first guards. With Russell taking over as the team’s third best player, it’s time for Reaves to come off the bench.

Reaves has already had fewer shots and touches as a starter because of the focus on Russell and moving him to the bench to become the team’s sixth man would take better advantage of his scoring and playmaking skills.
While Vando is not the offensive player Reaves is, his point-of-attack defense and his size, physicality, and rebounding should dramatically help the Lakers’ starting lineup be more balanced and better able to match up.

Finally, some players should start and some shouldn’t. Frankly, Reaves is a far better choice to move to the bench than Hachimura because he could end up playing better whereas Rui clearly seem to play better as a starter.
There’s also the issue of team size. The Lakers need to stay big as possible against teams like Denver and Boston, where they need a starting lineup of 6′ 5″ Russell, 6″ 10″ Vanderbilt, 6′ 8″ Hachimura, 6′ 8″ James, and 6′ 10″ Davis.

The Lakers’ optimum solution to upgrade their perimeter defense, size and physicality, and control of the boards is to move Austin Reaves to the bench to be sixth man and start Jarred Vanderbilt at two guard for the playoffs.

Vanderbilt Playing Shooting Guard

In today’s positionless NBA, players can play any position they can defend. Because he will defend guards and wings most of the time, the Lakers should start Vanderbilt at shooting guard and convert Reaves to sixth man.

Lakers replacing Reaves with Vanderbilt not only swaps an offense-first player for defense-first player but also exchanges a 6′ 5″ player for a 6′ 10″ player, which enables the Lakers to better matchup against bigger teams.
Adding an elite point-of-attack defender and bigger, longer, more physical rebounder in Jarred Vanderbilt dramatically adds needed defense and size and returns offense-defense balance to the Lakers’ starting lineup.

Before getting injured back in early February, Vando was playing the best basketball of his career. Despite troubling rumors, he’s expected to be fully healthy and ready to return to the court before the end of regular season. Hopefully, Jarred will get a chance to play in a few games before the end of the season so he can get back into playing condition and be ready to have a major impact as the Lakers’ top point-of-attack perimeter defender.

Starting at shooting guard, Jarred Vanderbilt should have a clear cut edge in size, length, and athleticism over whomever he matches up against playing shooting guard. Those advantages should help him excel at the position.
While shooting is not his strength, Vando’s size and athleticism should give him a big offensive advantage over the smaller, less physical players he may find himself matched up against. Vando’s offense becomes a plus.

Finally, the Lakers starting lineup for the playoffs of Russell, Vanderbilt, Hachimura, James, and Davis should finally give them enough size and physicality to match up against the world champion Denver Nuggets.

Bench Scoring & Playmaking

Right now, the Los Angeles Lakers’ have one of the worst benches in the league. Their 29.8 bench points per game ranks 29 out of 30 and their 6.8 bench assists per game 26 out of 30 in the league for the current season.

By moving Austin Reaves from starting shooting guard to backup shooting guard and hopefully getting back injured players like Cam Reddish and Christian Wood, L.A. should see much better scoring and playmaking. Austin Reaves’ presence alone should add 10 points and 5 assists to the Lakers’ bench points and assists, which would elevate the Lakers from being bottom-5 in bench points and assists to top-10 in that category.

Getting Christian Wood back from arthroscopic surgery on his knee in time for the playoffs will be critical to the Lakers being able to continue to roll out big lineups off the bench. Lakers need both Wood and Hayes to excel.
Spencer Dinwiddie will get the rest of the bench backcourt minutes next to Austin Reaves. The Reaves/Dinwiddie bench backcourt has similar balance between offense and defense as the Russell/Vanderbilt starting backcourt.

While the last thing Ham should do is play hockey style lineups, I do like the complementary fit and offensive and defensive balance in the proposed Los Angeles Lakers’ starting lineup and primary backups at each position.
The analytics have been screaming all year for the Lakers to go big and starting 6′ 10″ defensive specialist Jarred Vanderbilt at shooting guard could give the Lakers strong positional size advantage in all of their lineups.

Moving Austin Reaves to the bench and getting Christian Wood back from injury could transform the Lakers’ reserves from being a bottom-5 lineup to a top-10 lineup by generating more bench points, assists, and rebounds.

5 Reasons Why Lakers Would Be Smart To Fire Darvin Ham Now

March 8, 2024 By LakerTom 10 Comments

With the team stuck in 10th place and only 18 games left in the season, the Los Angeles Lakers would be smart to fire second-year head coach Darvin Ham right now rather than waiting until this summer to make the change.

While the Lakers will probably wait until the offseason to make a head coaching change, there are compelling reasons why they would be better off making the change right now rather than waiting until this summer.
Firing Ham right now could save the Lakers’ season and their relationship with LeBron James plus give them a head start on securing a new coach, deciding whom to keep, and resetting the franchise’s goals and priorities.

Everybody knew the Lakers were essentially sacrificing this season for the future when they decided not to make any moves at the deadline, leaving coach Ham with a flawed roster lacking critical frontcourt size and depth.
But Ham’s inability to handle the simple basic head coach responsibilities like building smart lineups, making the right substitutions, calling critical timeouts, and managing game strategies and tactics has been glaring.

Frankly, it seems inevitable that Darvin Ham will be fired this summer. The front office has reportedly had to intervene several times to resolve team rotation and playing time issues between Ham and disgruntled players.
The Lakers need to do whatever they can to save this season. As long as LeBron James and Anthony Davis are healthy and thriving, the reality is the Lakers will always have a puncher’s chance to win the NBA championship.

Here are five reasons why the Lakers should fire Darvin Ham right now rather than waiting until next summer, when their attention should be on building their next championship team, not searching for a new coach.

1. Only Opportunity To Save Season

While changing coaches at this point would be dramatic, the only way the Los Angeles Lakers can save this season is by firing Darvin Ham right now and replacing him with Phil Handy as the team’s Interim Head Coach.

There’s no question that Darvin Ham has lost this team, that LeBron James and Anthony Davis no longer are listening to or respect him. Waiting until this summer to replace him will only create more confusion and disarray.
After Tuesday night’s collapse against the Kings, the Lakers now have only a remote chance of making the top-6 in the West and will end up as one of four teams forced to win the Play-In Tournament to make the playoffs.

Throwing away a season where LeBron James and Anthony Davis are both healthy and playing like superstars would be pure basketball malfeasance. The Lakers should fire Ham now and give Phil Handy a chance to shine.
There’s a better chance Phil Handy could get the team to play better and win the head coaching job for next season than Darvin Ham could survive the rest of the season and be confirmed as head coach next summer.

The Lakers have always believed that they have a chance to beat any team if they have a healthy and thriving LeBron James and Anthony Davis heading into the playoffs. They showed last year that the Play-In couldn’t stop them.
What the Lakers need right now is for the team to fire Darvin Ham and promote Phil Handy to Interim Head Coach. That’s the only front office move they can make at this point to possibly save the 2023–24 season.

It’s obvious right now this Lakers team is not going to make the playoffs with Darvin Ham as head coach. The only way the Lakers can save this season is to fire Darvin Ham and promote Phil Handy to Interim Coach.

2. Jump Start Finding New Coach

The last thing the Lakers want to be doing next summer is searching for a new head coach when their focus should be on trading for a third superstar to support LeBron and AD and replace James when he decides to retire.

Firing Darvin Ham now would jump start the Lakers search to find his replacement. Besides giving Phil Handy a chance to show what he could do as the head coach, firing Ham opens door for L.A. to start searching.
Unfortunately, the list of available head coach candidates is largely filled with the usual retread list of out-of-work head coaches that includes Mark Jackson, Mike Budenholzer, Kenny Atkinson, Terry Stotts, and Sam Cassell.

Other head coach candidates whom the Lakers might have interest include L.A. assistant coaches Phil Handy and Chris Jent as well as highly respected young coaches like the Kings’ Jordi Fernandez or the Bucks’ Charles Lee.
Phil Handy and Chris Jent both have strong relationships with LeBron James and either of them deserves to be given a trial opportunity to see if they could possibly fit as the long-term head coach of the Lakers.

The Lakers have never opted for what could be considered an open search for a head coach conducted by an elite professional executive search firm. Instead, Jeanie and Rob have always trusted their own private networks.
If the Lakers are likely to fire Darvin Ham this summer, doing it now could give them a valuable opportunity to see if Handy or Jent is up to the job and, if they’re not, they then get a head start on finding Jam’s replacement.

Should the Lakers no longer believe Darvin Ham is their coach of the future, firing him right now would be a smart move that would give them more time to to experiment and decide who will be their next coach.

3. Reevaluate Current Roster Needs

Another compelling reason why the Lakers need to fire Darvin Ham right now is he is simply in the way of finding out what they have in the current roster before they can finally decide what to do via trades this summer.

While the current scuttlebut is that the Lakers are going to try and pull off a blockbuster trade for a third max-salary superstar this summer, with Trae Young as the favored target, much still depends on the rest of the season.
Because of a plague of injuries and inept player evaluation and poor lineup construction by the coaching staff, the Lakers still are not sure what they have in D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, and the rest of their young roster.

Even if the Lakers’ chances of winning a championship are remote, the rest of the season is critical to determining whom the team wants to keep and whom they no longer want. Darvin may not be the best coach to do that.
Ham has essentially bungled the lineups and rotations to the point where everybody believes the front office was eventually forced to intervene and order him to start Russell and Hachimura instead of Prince and Reddish.

Replacing Ham with either Handy or Jent would be a simple transition that could not only help the team win more games but also give the front office and coaching staff a fresh new look at each of the players under contract.
Before the Lakers trade away assets like Russell, Reaves, Hachimura, Christie, and Vanderbilt for a max salary $45 million per year third star, their front office clearly needs to be find out what they actually have.

Over the remaining 18 games, the Lakers need to find out just how valuable are D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura and whether they would be smarter to keep them or move them this summer.

4. Rebuild Relationship With LeBron

The single biggest reason why the Lakers should fire Darvin Ham now rather this summer is to jumpstart rebuilding the team’s relationship with superstar LeBron James, whose disdain for Ham has become public.

The front office declining to improve this roster at the trade deadline was the first insult to LeBron James. Forcing LeBron James to finish out this season playing for a coach whom he doesn’t like could be their second.
Everybody knows LeBron wants to stay with the Lakers but if this team misses the playoffs, James may ultimately decide to leave Los Angeles as a free agent rather than sign a new multiple year deal to retire as a Laker.

The reports of how LeBron ignores Ham during time outs and calls his own plays have been seen by everyone and Darvin’s bias for or against specific players and rotations was bearable when winning but not when losing.
Keeping Darvin Ham as head coach for the rest of the season may be the easy decision but the risk is LeBron James could become very weary of losing with the bad lineups and watching poor substitutions being made.

There is a negative dynamic at play with Darvin Ham and LeBron. Not only is not firing Ham now wasting one of few years left in LeBron James’ career as a Laker but it’s risking his ultimate personal loyalty to the franchise.
While the Lakers may not want to admit Darvin Ham was the wrong pick, the current discord between the coach, the players, and the fans is only going to get uglier. The Lakers and LeBron James do not need this.

The Lakers should fire Ham right now to prevent further damage to their relationship with LeBron James. Right now, it looks like James and Lakers are on course for new contract this summer. Don’t allow Ham to ruin that.

5. Reset Franchise Goals & Priorities

The final and most important reason the Lakers should fire Darvin Ham now rather than this summer is to have more time and opportunities to reset their franchise goals and priorities heading into a crucial offseason.

The other contributing factor that may be adversely affecting the morale and quality and consistency of the team’s play is the Lakers’ public plan to pull off a blockbuster trade this summer for a third max-salary superstar.
Make no mistake, to trade for a third superstar making $45 million per year, the Lakers would have to trade every player on their roster except for LeBron James and Anthony Davis and rely on minimum salary players

Unless Russell opts into his player option or agrees to a sign-and-trade, the only tradable contracts the Lakers will have this summer to match Trae Young’s $43 million would be Reaves, Hachimura, Vincent, and Vanderbilt.
Trading those four players for a third superstar like Trae Young would strip the Lakers of their depth and diversity and make them reliant on minimum salary players to fill out their starting lineup and regular season rotation.

There’s a strong argument that using their 3 first round picks and 4 pick swaps for a new starting stretch center and aggressive point-of-attack defender would be a smarter than going all-in again on a third superstar. There’s compelling evidence D’Angelo Russell has shown the Lakers he is the third star they need to complement LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Lakers greatest priority should be to bring back D’Angelo Russell.

Firing Darvin Ham right now would give the Lakers valuable time and options to reset their franchise goals and priorities and make a smarter decision on how best to upgrade their roster to championship level.