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Frank Vogel

Should the Lakers Consider Switching to Marc Gasol for Next 5 Big Games?

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Following 2 dismal games by Andre Drummond and Montrezl Harrell and facing a key 5-game stretch that could determine playoff seeding, should the Lakers be considering reinstating Marc Gasol as their starting center?

On the surface, it looks like the league may have figured out that packing the paint and forcing Andre Drummond and Montrezl Harrell to go against two or three defenders is the smartest strategy to shut down the Lakers’ centers. The Knicks and Hornets not only held Drummond and Harrell to 3.5 and 3.0 points per game respectively but also outrebounded the Lakers 47–33 and 45–38 and dominated them in points in the paint 54–38 and 50–32.

The defensive tactics exposed a major weakness in both Drummond’s and Harrell’s games in that both struggle to score when surrounding by multiple defenders. That resulted in the Lakers being totally dominated in the paint. The Lakers return home to a critical 5-game stretch that starts with a single game against the Celtics, following by a pair of 2-game back-to-back series against the Jazz and Mavs that could determine their playoff seeding.

Realistically, the Lakers need to split their 2-game series with Utah and Dallas. Sweeping the Jazz or Mavs is unlikely without LeBron James or Anthony Davis but getting swept could dump them into the play-in tourney. The Lakers are 5th in the West, 1 loss behind the 4th place Nuggets and 3 behind the 3rd place Clippers but only 2 ahead of the 6th place Blazers, 3 ahead of the 7th place Mavs, and 4 ahead of the 8th place Grizzlies.

With just 17 games left in the season, the next 5 games could determine the Lakers’ playoff seeding and there’s a good argument that Marc Gasol could be a better fit because he can pull opposing centers out to the 3-point line. The NBA is a copy cat league and Celtics coach Brad Stevens, Jazz coach Quin Snider, and Mavs coach Rick Carlisle saw what Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau and Hornets coach James Borrego did to shut down the Lakers.

Starting Gasol could enable the Lakers to pull opposing centers out of the paint and create space for Schroder and Horton-Tucker to get to the rim. Gasol is also a better passer and playmaker than Drummond and Harrell. Over the 7-game road trip, Gasol’s 97.0 defensive rating was best on the Lakers and his 4.8 net rating the best of the team’s centers. He averaged 8.0 points, 5.5 boards, and 3.5 assists in 19.7 minutes shooting 60% from three.

While Vogel’s notoriously reluctant to change his starting lineup, the Lakers are at a point where starting Gasol instead of Drummond could be their best option to survive the next five games and remain in the top 6 in the West.

Can Andre Drummond Save Anthony Davis from Having to Play the Five?

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One of the most tantalizing possibilities from signing Andre Drummond as the Lakers’ starting center is the possibility he might enable Anthony Davis to completely avoid playing the five for the rest of the season and playoffs.

We already know Davis prefers to play the four and the Lakers want to accommodate him to limit the physicality and banging of having him play the five, especially considering his longtime history of being injury prone. Last year, AD played more than 25% of his minutes at center in the regular season and more than 60% during the playoffs. This year that percentage has plummeted to less than 10% of his minutes during this regular season.

So it’s not a stretch to assume one of the Lakers’ motivations last offseason was to replace JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard with centers who could play more minutes to reduce the time Anthony Davis would play at center. While Gasol and Harrell were able to play enough minutes to allow Davis to stay at power forward, they were unable to provide the rim protection that had been an integral component of last year’s regular season defense.

Fortunately, the Lakers were able to sign Andre Drummond from the buyout market, giving them a proven 27-year old center who averaged 17.5 points, 13.5 boards, 2.6 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.2 blocks in 28.9 minutes per game. The Lakers hope they struck gold with Drummond and found not only a shot blocker to solve their rim protection woes but also a mobile and nimble big who could stay on the floor when they turn up the defensive pressure.

Drummond being able to successfully function in the aggressive trapping, doubling, and rotating team defense the Lakers unleashed in last year’s playoffs to win the championship is not as crazy and farfetched as it seems. Andre has incredibly quick feet and hands for a 6′ 10,” 280 lbs player and leads all centers with 1.6 steals to go along with his 1.2 blocks per game. And that was while not focusing on defense while playing on losing teams.

Motivated and committed to playing elite level defense, Andre Drummond potentially has the physical talents to not only be the Lakers’ starting center but also to play the five in what used to be their ‘small ball’ closing defense. The possibility Andre could learn to play the five so Anthony could play the four when the Lakers deploy their lethal switching and rotating defense is intoxicating and could be the key to the team repeating as champions.

Replacing Markieff Morris with Andre Drummond could make the Lakers ‘Death Lineup’ defense even more lethal. A front court with three long bigs like James, Davis, and Drummond could be intimidating and dominating. Their length alone could put a virtual lid on the basket and narrow the passing lanes from freeways to sidewalks while their mobility and quickness could suffocate opposing teams with a trio of pterodactyls chasing the ball.

Andre Drummond playing full-time at the five and allowing Anthony Davis to play most of the game at the four opens up important minutes at the five for forgotten man Montrezl Harrell, who now becomes the backup center. Harrell getting 20 minutes per game off the bench to do his thing is one of the big advantages of Drummond saving Davis from playing the five. It could even free minutes for Gasol to play the five against certain matchups.

While the Lakers won’t be able to re-sign him, Drummond could provide a template for the Lakers to follow this summer and trade for a modern center like Myles Turner so Anthony Davis could avoid playing the five.

Now That Lakers Have Dre, How Do They Still Take Advantage of Trezz?

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Lakers coach Frank Vogel and his staff have a major challenge to figure out how to still take advantage of Montrezl Harrell since the signing of Andre Drummond is going to create a big minutes crunch at the center position.

Since the start of the second half of the season, the Lakers have discovered how to unleash Montrezl Harrell to be the major offensive force he was last year as 6MOY by featuring him in pick-and-rolls to let him attack the rim. The result has been Trezz averaging 20.2 points and 6.8 boards in 29.9 minutes in the 10 games since the All-Star break versus 13.8 points and 6.4 boards in 24.1 minutes per game for the 37 games before the break.

Trezz is a powerful offensive weapon off the bench that Frank Vogel and the Lakers’ coaching staff needs to find a way to still take advantage now that they’ve signed Andre Drummond to replace Marc Gasol as starting center. The challenge is how to get Harrell the minutes off the bench to continue to impact the game the way he has when minutes at the center position are going to suddenly become scarce down the stretch and in the playoffs.

With Davis a few weeks from returning and Drummond still needing time to get back into shape after not playing for six weeks. the minutes crunch won’t rear its ugly head right away but it’s going to be a problem in the playoffs. Harrell is averaging 25.3 minutes per game, Gasol 19.8 minutes per game, and Drummond 28.9 minutes. Add Anthony Davis, who averaged 22.6 minutes at center in last year’s playoffs, and the total is 96.6 minutes.

For the record, that is actually more than double the 48 minutes is an NBA game, which means the Lakers’ coaching staff could face a monumental game of musical chairs at the center position once they get to the playoffs. Complicating the probable serious number crunch further is Frank Vogel declaring “he wants to be able to play Marc Gasol, Montrezl Harrell and Andre Drummond when the Lakers get to the postseason for flexibility.”

You have to love Vogel spreading the love and keeping all of his centers engaged but there’s going to be a major scarcity of minutes in the playoffs for every Lakers centers not named Andre Drummond and Anthony Davis. While it’s nice to have Gasol’s 3-point shooting and passing and Harrell’s energy and low post scoring in your back pocket, both are players who can only play one position and are simply bad fits alongside Drummond.

All of this assumes Andre Drummond will not only be the Lakers’ starting center in the playoffs but will also play big minutes. Whether that happens will obviously depend on how well he performs during the regular season. Should Andre follow the example set by Dwight and focus on being the player the Lakers need on defense and not the player he wants to be on offense, then he’ll earn a starting role and major minutes in the playoffs.

While Drummond will start, he’ll probably be limited to around 20 minutes per game due to his poor free throw shooting and the Lakers’ preference for Anthony Davis at the five and Markieff Morris at the four to close games. Assuming Marc Gasol is the odd man out, that leaves Drummond with 20 to 22 minutes of potential playing time at center with a good percentage of that time with Anthony Davis at the four covering his back defensively.

That would give the Lakers a breakdown in the playoffs of 20 to 22 minutes per game each for Drummond and Harrell at center and 4 to 8 minutes per game for Davis at center, which should help AD avoid low post physicality. That could be an excellent basic template for allocating center minutes in the playoffs with the actual playing time varying as needed for matchups when teams opt to go small or the Lakers need to ramp up their defense.

Montrezl Harrell has become too good a weapon off the bench for the Lakers not to prioritize figuring out how to still optimize him even if it means Andre Drummond and Anthony Davis playing fewer minutes as the five.

Will Drummond Change the Lakers Or the Lakers Change Drummond?

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There’ve been great conversations in the media and blogs whether Andre should change his game to match the Lakers’ needs or whether the Lakers should take advantage of his unique strengths and adjust their approach?

Now that Andre has reached agreement to join the Los Angeles Lakers, it’s going to be fascinating to find out exactly what his role on the team will be and how much the Lakers’ strategy on offense and defense will change. Drummond brings skills the Lakers need to repeat as champs, including elite rebounding, low post scoring, physical size, and solid rim protection. But integrating him into a championship team is not a simple slam dunk.

Drummond is looking at the starting center position on the Lakers as the perfect team and situation to best showcase his talents to convince a team to offer him a max contract as an unrestricted free agent next summer. Ideally, he wants to start and close games, play big minutes, and be featured on offense. Money and even the lure of a championship are not paramount. Drummond is primarily focused on helping his career, brand, and future.

The Lakers, of course, know all of this but they also needed to sell Andre that joining the Lakers would give him the ideal stage and best opportunity to show the world what he can accomplish playing on a championship team. The Lakers goal is a championship with everybody pulling in the same direction. That means Andre and the Lakers had to reach an important meeting of the minds to balance the needs of the player and team.

So let’s take a look at the role Drummond and the Lakers could have agreed upon and highlight the areas where the needs of the player and team could have conflicted and how those conflicts might have been resolved.

STARTING AND CLOSING

There’s no question Andre Drummond will be the Lakers’ starting center. The more important question is will he close games, especially once we get into the playoffs when the Lakers prefer to close with AD at the five?

While there will be matchups where LA may need Drummond and Davis on the floor together to close games, there’s no way the Lakers promised Andre that he would automatically be on the team’s closing lineup for every game. While Frank Vogel has usually stayed with a consistent starting lineup, he’s also always preferred to adjust who closes games for the Lakers, depending on the matchups and who’s been playing well. That’s not going to change.

While Andre is likely to be the starter most of the time, there may be games where teams go small and the Lakers decide to matchup. In the end, the Lakers and Andre have likely agreed coach Vogel would make those calls.

FEATURED ON OFFENSE

The Lakers are first and foremost LeBron James’ and Anthony Davis’ team and Andre Drummond signing with them is not going to change that. Andre will get his share of touches but he’ll still be the Lakers’ third option.

Whether the Lakers feature Andre Drummond on offense will be another decision that has to be matchup driven. The Lakers won’t have a problem dumping the ball inside to Andre if he has a clear cut matchup advantage. However, they’re not going to suddenly turn into a team whose top priority is to feed the ball into the post as if Andre Drummond was Shaquille O’Neal. Andre will get his opportunities but only within the flow of the game.

Drummond is smart enough to understand this is LeBron’s and AD’s team and knows that proving he can play winning basketball on a championship team will be worth more in free agency this summer than inflated stats.

MINUTES AND SHOTS

Andre Drummond will average around 32 minutes per game depending on matchups, which is in line with his recent and career numbers. But there will be sporadic games where he’ll play fewer minutes due to matchups.

As for shots, Drummond averaged a career high 15.2 shots per game for the Cavs this season. He’s not going to get that many shots with the Lakers, who will be looking for him to improve both his shot selection and efficiency. LeBron James averages 18.4 and Anthony Davis 16.7 shots per game for a total of 35.1 or about 40% of the team’s 86 shots per game. The only way Andre is going to get 15 shots per game is dominating the offensive glass.

Andre Drummond will be the Lakers third star when it comes to minutes, shots, and points scored but playing on the Lakers with LeBron should enable him to discover and showcase his best possible version as a player.

IMPACT ON ROSTER

Andre Drummond’s arrival will have major consequences for the Lakers’ current two centers, Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell. Gasol will probably find himself playing rarely and Harrell his minutes dramatically reduced.

Vogel faces a daunting challenge distributing center minutes. Harrell is averaging 25.3 and Gasol 19.8 minutes per game. Without AD, that leaves just 16 minutes for the other centers if Andre plays 32 minutes per game. Until AD returns, Harrell should get most of the remaining minutes while Gasol sits. The big crunch will come when AD returns. Vogel may have to get creative to find minutes for Harrell with Davis to avoid losing his impact.

Once we’re in the playoffs and the Lakers go small and need Anthony Davis to play more minutes at the five defensively, Drummond and Harrell could both see their minutes and roles diminish significantly the deeper LA goes.

There’s no question signing Andre Drummond was a big and necessary move by the Lakers. They desperately needed more size and athleticism at the five than either Gasol or Harrell could provide to repeat as champions.

The big challenge now that Drummond is aboard is still finding a way to take advantage of Trezz’s great energy and scoring at the rim. Unfortunately, Drummond and Harrell together just doesn’t work in the modern NBA. Further complicating the situation, the Lakers may need Davis play the five in the playoffs even more this year than last year as neither Drummond or Harrell are great fits for the team’s championship defensive schemes.

The Lakers were fortunate to sign Andre Drummond and hopefully he and the team have agreed upon a role that will bring another championship but Frank Vogel and the coaches will have to figure out how to make it work.

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.