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Dennis Schroder

5 Things: Lakers scrubs beat Utah scrubs

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The Lakers will take all the wins they can get while AD and LeBron get closer to returning. This is a quantity not quality state of affairs. In terms of how the team fared I would say they acquitted themselves well enough. It took a little luck, a lot of hard work and some clutch play but they got the job done. Still have some mountain left to climb, though.

  1. Dennis Schroder doing a little bit of everything. There have been some real forgettable games from the Laker starting point guard since the superstar duo went out with injuries. This wasn’t one of them. Schroder scored, defended, assisted and pretty much made all the right plays in this gritty win. He was aggressive in terms of looking for his shot (24 attempts, 6 from three) if not incredibly accurate (only 11 made shots, 1 from three). But the fact that he was aggressive made it harder for Utah to set their defense to guard the team. Schroder applied that much pressure. The key for him is keeping his turnovers low and if that means a few less extraneous passes, so be it.
  2. Andre’ Drummond playing big. It could be argued that we should have found a few more FGA for Dre’. He was a solid 10-15 and made 7-8 from the stripe. With no Gobert there was no Godzilla for Kong to fight and so the one man monster destroyed the interior defense that Utah could muster. He pulled down 8 rebounds, dished 3 assists and nabbed 2 steals with a block. The steals both resulted in highlight plays in which he took the ball the length of the court for easy scores. As LRob noted when we first acquired Drummond the man has extremely quick hands for a big man. The other thing he does well is play to his size, nothing more annoying than a true big man who can’t play big. Don’t think we’ll ever say that about Andre’. The man moves little dudes out of his way with legal moves and the only thing I wish he would do more of is finish strong. Fewer hookity-flip shots and more rim-rattling dunks.
  3. Laker front court was aggressive on the offensive glass. Every front court starter had 2+ offensive rebounds and ‘Kieff had a whopping five which helped give us an 11-5 edge in that department. Morris and Drummond were more aggressive on offense than Kuzma was tonight (in the first half Utah did a solid job of forcing Kyle to pass which he did) but they all did solid work rebounding the ball and giving us second chance opportunities or limiting the Jazz to one.
  4. Managing the turnovers. While it certainly started with Dennis Schroder the team in general did a solid job keeping the turnovers to a respectable level, especially against a tough, defensive minded team like Utah. 15 for the game is good, not great, but certainly an improvement over the 20+ turnover games we’d been having of late. Turnovers are a part of the game and this Laker team takes risks with downcourt passes and a lot of interior paint passes. Those have a high turnover potentiality but they’re also a part of what makes this team unique. If those passes find the mark they’re often going to result in open shots and easy buckets. The key is lowering the rate of failure.
  5. The Standings. None of this would have mattered if we had been able to establish a larger cushion in regards to the play-in tournament. If we were still sitting 5 or 6 games out of a play in spot we could cough up more games down the stretch with nary a worry. As it is we’re still just 4 games up on the Mavs (who lost Friday, thanks Julius Randle and the Knickerbockers) so we need to pull a few more wins along with a rabbit or two out of the magic top hat. Sounds like Donovan Mitchell will be out a couple more games and it’s imperative that we capitalize on this opportunity. No tears are shed for teams with injured players, injuries are a part of sport. Just because a team has injuries doesn’t mean they’re going to lay down for you, the Lakers need to learn this once and for all, now, and seize this moment and beat Utah tomorrow night. If they get Conley, Gobert or Favors back it changes nothing. Play harder, compete better and go get that win.

We needed this game a lot more than the Jazz who, even if they fall behind Phoenix in the standings, are situated very well seeding-wise. One way or another, barring some sort of epic collapse they’re playing one of the tourney teams. Not too sure there will be much difference between who ends up being 7 and 8 after the play-in rounds. Could still be any one of 5 or so teams, hard to even come up with a game plan which is an odd advantage to being 3-6 in the seeding game. You know who you’re gonna play but the 1 and 2 seeds need to plan for several different scenarios. Just another odd thing about the NBA, pay it no mind.

Could a Lonzo Ball S&T This Summer Be the Lakers’ Answer at Point Guard?

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There are good reasons why a Lakers and Lonzo Ball reunion are unlikely this summer, including Ball preferring not to return to the team that traded him and the Lakers not wanting to be hardcapped due to a sign-and-trade.

But there are also compelling reasons why Lonzo Ball today could be the perfect point guard to complement LeBron James and Anthony Davis and a better option as a playmaker, shooter, and defender than Dennis Schroder. Lonzo is also a better complement for 20-year old Talen Horton-Tucker, whom the Lakers project as part of their backcourt of the future who needs to be paired with a guard who can shoot the three and take care of the ball.

The 23-year old 6′ 6″ Ball shoots 38.4% on 8.1 threes and makes 5.7 assists to 2.0 turnovers per game whereas the 27-year old 6′ 3″ Schroder shoots 34.1% on just 3.3 threes and averages 5.4 assists to 2.8 turnovers per game. The younger and bigger Ball also has greater upside as a player and is more versatile as defender than the older and smaller Schroder. Ball averages 0.6 blocks and 1.4 steals per game vs. 0.2 blocks and 1.2 steals for Schroder.

Like Schroder, Ball is going to be looking for a big raise in free agency this summer. He knows his days in New Orleans are over and because he’ll be a restricted free agent, the Pelicans will be looking to sign-and-trade him. Spending more than $20 million for Lonzo Ball, even though it would hard cap them, would be a smarter move than spending that much for Dennis Schroder, who’s nowhere near as good a fit for what the Lakers need.

But there may be strong competition for Ball, who’s dramatically improved his shooting over the last two years. He’s not only become an elite high volume 3-point shooter but is now also shooting almost 80% from the line. With Zion dominating the ball for the Pelicans as a point forward, Lonzo has learned to thrive off the ball, becoming a true 3&D guard whom the Pelicans would like to keep but not at the cost of going into the luxury tax.

Should Lonzo be interested, the Lakers should jump at the opportunity. They could move some long term salary commitments to open up space under the hard cap to give Horton-Tucker and Caruso well deserved raises. The Pelicans might be receptive to receiving Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in return for Lonzo Ball. Kuzma and KCP are both young, proven, championship quality rotation players on team friendly contracts.

A sign-and-trade with the Pelicans for Lonzo Ball on a 4-year deal starting at $20 million for Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s combined $26 million per year would end up saving the Lakers $6 million salary per year. Lonzo Ball would become the starting point guard and Talen Horton-Tucker the starting shooting guard, giving the Los Angeles Lakers a dynamic young backcourt of the future to complement LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

As for being hardcapped again, there’s a sense from writers following the Lakers like Eric Pincus the Lakers might welcome financial constraints to prevent them from overspending and incurring stratospheric luxury taxes. There was talk from Woj and other pundits that the Lakers were looking for ways to get out of some of their future commitments to create flexibility this summer to re-sign their own free agents Horton-Tucker and Caruso.

Another wrinkle of a Lonzo Ball and Lakers reunion is Ball’s agent is now Rich Paul of Klutch Sports. It’s no secret Rob Pelinka and Rich Paul have a history of making moves to mutually benefit the Lakers and Klutch clients. There’s something karmic about Lonzo signing with the player agent who engineered his trade to New Orleans. What better story than the prodigal son returning to lead the team that drafted him to more championships.

At 23, Lonzo has become his own man, no longer tethered to the whims and opinions of a dominant father. He’s put his career in the capable hands of Rich Paul and worked hard to become a better and more valuable player. While New York is tempting, Rich Paul surely knows the best landing spot for Lonzo Ball and his career would be back at Staples next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis. He’s the perfect point guard for the LA Lakers.

Temporarily overshadowed by his younger brother LaMelo’s sensational rookie season, Lonzo has an opportunity to return to Los Angeles, rejoin LeBron, and become the first Ball brother to win an NBA championship.

Why Ben McLemore Is Missing Piece in Lakers’ 3-Point Shooting Puzzle!

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We’ve seen this movie before, haven’t we? But usually we’re the other team who just lost the game because some red hot 3-point shooter just shot lights out and sent the the Lakers home losers. Well, not tonight, baby.

Tonight, the team where 3-point shooters come to die got revenge as Ben McLemore, starting with a minute left in the 3rd, exploded for 5 threes and 17 points in 13 minutes to turn a 12 point lead into a 25 point Lakers’ win. Ben made 6 for 12 from the field and 5 for 10 from deep as the Lakers tied their season record with 19 made threes on 34 attempts while holding the Nets to just 5 made threes on 27 attempts, including a 0 for 15 second half.

The Lakers took an 8-point 1st quarter lead, lost it but still led by 3 at the half, and were holding a shaky 12-point lead with a minute left in the 3rd when Ben McLemore made what was the most important shot in the game. After missing his first four shots in the game, Ben’s corner three jumper off a pass from Caruso broke a 3-minute drought without a field goal and gave the Lakers confidence and a 15 point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

There were many Laker heroes last night — Dre, Dennis, Kenny, Talen, Keef — but it was Ben splashing two more threes to start the fourth that pushed the lead to 21 points and turned a competitive game into a Lakers’ blowout. The Lakers have struggled all season to win the 3-point battle without a volume 3-point shooter like McLemore who could shoot them back into games or catch fire and turn close games into blowouts like last night.

Ben McLemore may be the answer to the Lakers 3-point shooting woes. While Ben’s not going to take 10 threes every game, if he could take 7 or 8 threes per game, he could reverse the Lakers’ negative 3-point differential. Teams can’t increase their 3-point shot attempts by just having their existing shooters take more threes. The only way teams can realistically increase the threes taken is by adding high percentage, high volume 3-point shooters.

Volume 3-point shooting is specific skill and mind set the Lakers didn’t have on the roster until they added McLemore. It takes a player with a quick release and zero conscience or worry when it comes to letting the shot fly. That’s not Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Dennis Schroder, Alex Caruso, Marc Gasol, or even Kyle Kuzma, Wesley Matthews, or Markieff Morris but it is Ben McLemore as we saw last night when he rained threes on the Nets.

How much difference can one volume 3-point shooter make for the Lakers? The math is simple. Each additional 3-point shot is potentially worth a point so if Ben can add 8 more threes per game, that could be worth 8 points. That’s assuming he shoots threes at 33.3%. If he can take 8 threes and make 3.2 or 40%, then he could add 9.6 points to the Lakers’ offense, which would elevate the Lakers from 23rd with 110.8 ppg to 1st with 120.4 ppg.

While some of those 8 additional threes by McLemore could be new shots, some will just replace 2-point or 3-point shots taken by other players so Ben taking 8 threes per game is not going to actually generate 9.6 more points. However, volume 3-point shooting by Ben could generate half of that or 4.8 more points per game which would increase the Lakers’ ppg to 115.0, which would make them a Top-5 NBA offense in points scored per game.

So while last night’s game was just one game, it shows why Ben McLemore and his high percentage, high volume 3-point shooting could be the missing piece in solving the puzzle of the Lakers’ negative 3-point differential.

Could Trading Trezz & Dennis Be the Lakers’ Route to Saving This Season?

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One thing the Lakers have learned playing without their two superstars is which role players can still do their job, fill their role, and provide value and which players don’t have the talent and confidence needed to go it alone.

Watching the Lakers regroup after losing Davis to injury and then trying to do the same after losing James has been an illuminating experience for the team, it’s front office and coaching staff, and the other teams in the NBA. Any lingering sense of invincibility the defending champions may have had has been rudely dismissed as opponents see a wide open opportunity with the injured Lakers either limping into or possibly even missing the playoffs.

Fortunately, the Lakers still have 3 days until the March 25 trade deadline to to fill their needs for a legitimate lead guard, volume 3-point shooters to turbocharge the offense, and better rim protection to anchor the defense. Unfortunately, their best trading chips to get help until LeBron and AD return are point guard Dennis Schroder and center Montrezl Harrell, who also happen to be the two most needed players to help weather the storm.

Without LeBron and AD, the Lakers find themselves in a conundrum where their third and fourth best players — Schroder and Harrell — while gamely playing their hearts out may just not good enough to survive this stretch. The issue is the Lakers need more playmaking and 3-point shooting at point guard than they’re getting from Schroder and more rim protection and pick-and-roll defense from the center position than they getting from Harrell.

Having desirable trading chips for the positions you’re looking to upgrade can be a good thing in most situations. Teams need other players to fill the positional holes in the roster made whenever they trade a rotation player. Unfortunately, when a team is already shorthanded when it comes to point guards and centers as the Lakers are, it makes it hard to trade Schroder without getting a point guard back or Harrell without getting a center back.

The Hornets have three quality point guards in LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, and Devonte Graham and are interested in Montrezl Harrell but the Lakers can’t trade Trezz unless they have a center replacement lined up for him. That’s why Pelinka is going to have to set up a series of two or three trades to successfully revamp the roster to survive this period and fill the holes to make the Lakers a better team at both ends of the court before the playoffs.

There’s always a hesitancy and reluctance, especially among fans, to break up a championship roster but the Lakers’ current situation right now is so dire they need major changes to avoid falling completely out of contention. That means making multiple trades to fix their needs for more playmaking, volume 3-point shooting, and improved rim protection. It’s like President Biden’s position on Covid relief: the bigger gamble is not doing enough.

There are opportunities out there for Rob Pelinka and the Lakers to take advantage of. The Pelicans want to move Lonzo Ball. The Hornets are interested in Montrezl Harrell. The Pacers may be willing to trade Turner. Drummond may find starting center for the Lakers his best option. Harrell’s and Schroder’s trade value may be peaking and the Lakers have KCP as salary ballast and THT and their 2027 first round pick as sweeteners.

Best of all, LeBron James’ injury has suddenly given Rob Pelinka the freedom to make dramatic moves without great fear of blowback, not unlike a player given the chance to launch a half court shot at the buzzer.

5 Things: Lakers outlast Timberwolves and keep the streak going

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The Timberwolves came in to STAPLES having beaten one of the NBA elites and feeling good. A young team riding high can be a dangerous thing in the regular season. Teams like the Lakers are built for the more structured and evenly paced style of the playoffs whereas the T’wolves want to run and gun, play loose and fast. It took a few quarters but the Lakers found the formula that allowed them to beat Minnesota. In so doing the Lakers remained unbeaten since the All Star break.

From one of Minnesota’s favorite sons, RIP O Purple One.
  1. The King and Monstrezzl pick and roll. That’s not a typo, BTW, Trezz has been a monster of late hence the moniker. That pick and roll looks like it could be the new unstoppable Laker weapon, at least against defenses that don’t understand how to level Trezz off and stop him from hitting the paint in stride. Similar to how James and Caruso ran PnR last season, when they’re playing smart and the defense isn’t keyed into it there’s no stopping it. That play should be good for at least one bucket per game and one misdirection to the trigger man in the corner which also happened the last time they ran it. Wes missed the three but the play is a good one and bears repeating especially in our fairly one-dimensional offense.
  2. Wes Matthews getting it done on D. With Caruso out we’ve been out one of our best defenders and it’s been really nice seeing Wes Matthews contributing on that end. he also canned a couple threes but it was his defense that helped stymie the Timberwolves, especially in the second half. Wes has not had a great season, had a scary collision early with Karl-Anthony Towns, but shook all that off to contribute to a gritty Laker win. Assuming the Lakers don’t make a big splashy move it’s imperative that we unlock some of our under-performing players. Seeing Wes contribute within the role he was brought here to perform was great to see.
  3. Laker bench finding an identity. Injuries in the NBA happen, it’s just one of those things that every team has to overcome. The Lakers had really struggled with their identity since AD went down and especially when Schroder was out. The Laker bench rotation went through several iterations before landing on this current one where Morris replaces AD in the line up and everyone else pretty much sticks to their role. Bringing in Damien Jones further solidified that look once we lost Gasol. Wes has stepped into Caruso’s role well enough and the result has been a more balanced Laker attack post ASB. I’m sure getting in an actual practice helped as well (based on a recent ESPN article the Lakers have practiced 5 times since camp broke. 5. Let that sink in. Not sure if that reflected any work done over the break but, at best, that would make it 6 or 7 practices in total.) The bench has become a major stabilizer behind the stellar play of Trezz and Kuzma along with the emergence of THT.
  4. Speaking of Talen Horton-Tucker… Kid was balling again last night. Stu Lantz has been pretty spot-on with his game-to-game analysis of THT and being pretty fair in his judgement of both his growth and areas he still needs work on. Defense is the biggest thing and that’s understandable, this is for all intents and purposes THT’s rookie season and he’s shouldering a large chunk of responsibility as the season goes along. He’s impressing his coaches and LeBron James, no small feat, and you can see the game slowing down for him on offense. The work he needs to put in on defense is legit but I think that he’s on the perfect team to get better on that end. My only critique of Talen on offense is to not always drive the ball to the rim. That is predictable and teams will start to bait him into it. Take those open threes a little more frequently, live with the results if they come organically and the floor will open up even more.
  5. Speaking of three pointers… The Lakers made a bunch of them last night (13-26 good for exactly 50%). The Lakers, by design, are not going to be among the elite three point shooting teams in the NBA, we lack the personnel and the offense isn’t really designed to create those looks. They happen more organically off the quite traditional and old school inside-out methodology. In this case usually off of Schroder, James or THT collapsing the defense and kicking it out. We weren’t letting those shots fly early on but it feels like we’ve turned the corner on that issue and are taking the open three more consistently. Given the talent of our squad, when healthy, that ought to be enough. I don’t have a hard number I’m fixated on in terms of how many threes is appropriate for us to take per game. Let success by your guide and if they’re falling for you…well, shoot more. If they are not keep moving the ball and finding the open man. Old school hoops still has a place in the game. Even moreso when the playoffs role around.

All in all a decent win. Could have been a trap game but, since I didn’t call it (you’re welcome, Gerald) it would appear we didn’t fall in. LaMelo Ball returns to LA on Thursday, should be fun. The Rookie of the Year debate is essentially between LaMelo and Anthony Edwards so we’ll get to see both back-to-back. Good stuff.