LeBron James

5 Things: Old Bones

December 3, 2024 By Jamie Sweet 5 Comments

Even though it came at inopportune time, this was a loss in the making before the Utah game. 5 games in 7 days, all with travel, and a T’wolves team motivated by recent struggles and an October loss at Crypto and to right the ship after a recent 5 game losing streak. After carrying the team to victory the night before in Salt Lake City the superstar duo of James & Davis needed a team pick me up to make this one competitive. They didn’t get one.

7-30, 0-6 from three. That was the combined scoring output from ADS and LBJ. They did go 6-8 from the stripe. Some of that was the stellar defense the Timberwolves deployed but just as much I blame weary legs, especially in LeBron’s case. None of his jump shots looked good, nothing is smooth and it’s affecting his passing game as he’s not getting to the angle but he makes the pass anyway because his brain is telling him to make the pass. In his last 6 games he’s averaging 5 TO’s/contest. He’s 0-19 on three pointers since Phoenix which has driven his 3pt FG% down to 34.5. AD isn’t as affected but you can tell he’s tyired because he’s been taking a lot more step back mid range jump shots on the road trip. He’s not getting any friendly whistles but you can’t let that dictate how you play. AD and the Lakers are at their best when he’s applying pressure in the paint and delivering body blows.
Dalton Knecht and his feast or famine stretch. The last 5 games has seen a lot of variance in Dalton’s contributions. He’s either over 40% from three or under/at 25% for a 32% average. Some of this is simply his home/road splits (50% three point shooter at home, 31.6% on the road) but I think some of it is also that he’s now on the scouting report and there’s a tactic being deployed. They’re forcing him to either shoot an extremely contested shot or put it on the deck and make a play. He’s not getting 4-5 clean catch and shoot attempts/night, he’s getting 2 or 3. Even those are coming with more pressure to perform now that he’s starting, facing the better defenders and coaches are forcing him to tweak his game. He needs to figure out a wrinkle to keep his hot shooting, our winning, and his ROY hopes going.
Could have seen more DLO. The last few games have seen Russell begin to emerge from his long summer’s nap and play better. He and Hachimura really carried the Lakers for long stretches to help keep the game in striking distance until midway through the 3rd when it was obvious they weren’t going to be getting any help from anyone else. I’m not saying another 4-5 minutes would have swung the game but when the end was still in question did we really need to see so much Vincent and/or Christie? For all the hype and words spouted over how JJ Reddick was going to help DLO unlock his best self I really haven’t even see it. Reddick has basically done the same thing Coach Ham did: express a modicum of preseason confidence, give him a nebulous role of spacer, and then bench him when he doesn’t carve out anything besides drifting around the three point line.
Stick a fork in Gabe Vincent. Dude is done. Followed his best Lakers game up with a really bad effort on both ends highlighted by several silly fouls. We need a lot more from Gabe Vincent and I don’t think he has it in him.
Every single Laker who could play did play and all but Cam Reddish (11 minutes) and Gabe Vincent (22 minutes of not doing much) had at least 1 turnover and every starter but DK had at least 2 highlighted by The King’s 6. We gave up 26 points off turnovers, a lot of those showing up in the Fastbreak points stat line (20). Some of this just sloppy play by the players, some of it is tired LBJ and some of it is we’re not really running plays anymore. Not like we did in the first couple weeks. Same goes for what defense we muster these days, the first 6 or so games saw a much more physical Lakers defense that had transition issues but still played hard. Those days are now gone, evidently, as we are soft all over.

Two more games to go on the road trip of which we are 2-3 and we’ve lost 3 of our last 10. The younger guys need to pick it up more than a little because I don’t think there’s another gear either AD or LBJ can find, they’re maxed out for the regular season. Staff needs to really re-think whatever defensive scheme they think we’re running: it isn’t working at all. Don’t change these two things and watch us continue our long, slow slide into mediocrity. Guys who think they deserve more of a role need to start proving it and not just by hitting a three every game or so, they need to defend and play at a hard, high level.

5 Things: It’s the Simple Things

November 22, 2024 By Jamie Sweet 9 Comments

The world of sport is funny, so much is made of nuanced stats and metrics. Graphs and formulas for how you can win populate blogs and websites. “Experts” blab on and on about how analytics has changed sports forever. I don’t buy it. Why? Because when you look at who won and how it usually comes down to something basic that didn’t get done. A foundational aspect of winning that came up short. In the case of the lakers last night it was 2 things: rebounds (or lack of them) and missing free throws in the clutch. Simple.

Give credit where credit is due. The physicality and tenacity the Orlando Magic play at gave the Lakers fits all night long. Much whiny and moaning to the refs who let a rough, and consistent, game play out over the course of the evening. The Magic get up into you. They drape, they get handsy and we never adjusted or played up to it. Look no further than the rebound category to see where the threads of the win began to unravel. The Magic pulled down 12 more boards than we did (48-36) and grabbed 6 more offensive rebounds (15). While that led to only 15 second chance points it helped stymie or fastbreak and allowed Orlando to win the possession battle on the road.
Off game for the offense. The ball movement and flow last night was decidedly lacking. We average nearly 27 assists/game and last night, even though we got 21 dimes, the normal flow we’ve become accustomed to was AWOL. A lot of this was due to the physical pressure applied by Orlando. But it also had to do with guys like DLO passing up open shots in favor of relocating and then forcing up a bad shot, instead. The Lakers offense is predicated on player movement and when it’s flowing it works great. Too much standing around last night led to a stagnant flow and helped contribute to the loss.
Missing free throws. Look…it’s gonna happen and it happens to every team. There will always be a handful of games you look back on every season and say “should, woulda, coulda”. This and the Phoenix game top my list currently. Both were games where we had cont5rol and simply let it slip through our fingers. Missing 4 out of 6 free throws down the stretch, along with not forcing Wagner off the three point line, are the main culprits in this one. Wipe slate, move on.
Should have gone with Cam over DLO down the stretch. Called a big game for Russell last night…that is still MIA. Dude hasn’t scored 20 points in a game this season. I know he’s distributing the ball OK, had 6 dimes last night, but he’s a net negative defender and that’s not going to change. When he passes up open threes, like he did last night, it makes him playing really hard to justify. Cam was doing a better job than Reaves who inexplicably seemed to get matched up on Wagner a lot in the second half. When Wagner got hot and we finally went back to Reddish in the waning minutes it was too little too late. Bad decision by JJ on this one, I understand the desire to see DLO get on track but the west is to tight to let one guy beat us. Not sure why we didn’t put AD on him, either. Curious choices and some of that has to do with the switching scheme which my personal jury is still out on. It works when we’re physical like the Magic were but when you play willowy it opens up wide open threes and driving lanes.
Offense is not the problem. In a game where, even without good ball movement, you shoot 50.6% from the field and 41.9% from three while keeping the turnovers reasonable you ought to win. The free throws (65.4%) were a big part but the defense just isn’t rising to the occasion. We play good D in bursts but it doesn’t seem to be as much of a focus as it will eventually need to be. Our physicality comes and goes, we don’t rebound well, and our transition D continues to be a major weakness. If this doesn’t get addressed soon it will only become a larger issue.

Lakers Must Figure Out How To Start Hot Shooting Rookie Dalton Knecht

November 21, 2024 By LakerTom 5 Comments

Red hot rookie Dalton Knecht has played and shot so well since replacing injured Rui Hachimura in the Lakers’ starting lineup that head coach JJ Redick is going to have a hard time keeping him out of the starting lineup.

In the three games he started in place of Hachimura, Knecht averaged 26.0 points and 5.0 rebounds while making 16 of his 26 threes for a 61.5% shooting percentage from deep on a volume of 8.7 attempts per game. Knecht also showed everybody that his game is not just limited to volume 3-point attempts. During these three games, Dalton also averaged 1.0 steals and 0 turnovers despite posting a team 3rd best solid 20.3% usage rate.

While Hachimura has played and shot well as a starter, Dalton brings a juggernaut level of firepower to the starting lineup that the Lakers simply have never had and which catapults their starting lineup to another level.
Knecht not only showed he could hold his own as a starter but also proved he was exactly the type of elite high volume 3-point shooter the Lakers have desperately needed to complement LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

With their other volume 3-point shooter D’Angelo Russell moving to the bench, the Lakers would be smart to keep Dalton Knecht in the starting lineup to provide the volume 3-point shooting Russell used to provide.
The Lakers fully understand what they have in Knecht and know their major development priority should be to keep him in the starting lineup to accelerate his development and take best advantage of his great skillset.

The Lakers’ challenge in keeping Dalton Knecht in the starting lineup is what position does he play, who starts with him in the backcourt, and what other starting lineup changes should Lakers make to optimize the rookie?

5 Things: Lakers Finding A Way

November 20, 2024 By Jamie Sweet 2 Comments

While we’re still in the “too early to form a concrete opinion” stage of the season, there are some trends in the Lakers play we can identify and analyze. Ball movement, offensive flow: good. Defensive intensity and rebounding: mediocre, especially on the break where it gets downright bad. Let’s take a look at some of the ways the Lakers could maybe start to improve on the solid early-season foundation they’ve put down.

Getting buckets. As of this post the Lakers are the #4 ranked offense based on overall offensive rating. In the NBA, “offensive rating” refers to a statistic that measures how many points a team scores per 100 possessions, essentially representing their offensive efficiency over the course of a game; a higher offensive rating indicates a more potent offense. The shot profile is balanced, we’re #11 in Assist % (which is pretty solid considering we have 2 elite iso players in AD and LeBron), and we’re improving our assist to turnover ratio by the game (we currently sit at #5) which means we’re maximizing our possessions by not coughing it up but still using the pass effectively, and we’re not addicted to three point shooting nor are we treating it like a toxic asset. We’re #8 in points in the paint which we should be considering that our 2 best players rely on paint points. We’re #9 in scoring in transition. We’re right in my personal sweet spot for three point FGAs at 33.6 and improving on our accuracy from the beginning of the season at 37.4% (making 12.6). In short, when we lose, offense isn’t the problem.
Getting stops. This isn’t quite as rosy of a picture but the good thing is some of this is very fixable. Our net defensive rating (how many points we give up/100 possessions) is bad, we’re 25th in the league and that’s with AD playing at a high level. Most of that stat was based on the first iteration of the starting five which included D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves in the back court. I’d be curious to see what that number looks like with another 5-10 games of Cam Reddish starting in DLO’s place. Swapping Cam for DLO in the starting five has brought balance to both the bench and starting units, balance we sorely need if we want to get to at least middle of the pack defensively. Cam has been ultra solid on D and taken the open shots that come his way on offense without pressing. Early on, when we were a top 5 or so turnover team, we were giving up a lot more fastbreak points and points off of turnovers. We’ve cleaned up the points of TO’s…but we’re second to last in giving up points on the break. In some ways that’s a little more worrisome as it means teams are just running at us and we’re not adjusting very well off of makes or misses. The good thing is we can work on that as a team and get better on getting back. LeBron will not be a part of that effort and, based on his age and usage, this may be the biggest concern for the regular season. Come playoff time, when the game slows down, I expect this to matter a little less. Depending on matchups.
The Knecht Effect. After starting the first 8 or 9 games slowly DK4 has come on like gangbusters and is shooting lights out (last night was awesome against the Jazz). Inserting him into the starting 5 along with Cam has led to some of our best basketball and really opens up the door to a debate about if Rui should go back to starting once he’s available. I think the sample size is too small, it’s early in the season and DK hasn’t really been scouted, yet, so there’s still a lot of unknown factors but it’s certainly a conversation worth having. Starting DK (a rookie) would normally come with some defensive ability questions but, while he won’t be in any kind of NBA All Defense convos he can hold his own because he moves his feet rather than reaches. That in and of itself is huge. Add that a willingness to crash the glass at least as much as Rui does and you have a pretty nice problem for the coaches to unravel. I think that DK is probably the better shooter in that his release is quicker and he’s not shy about putting it up but both are efficient and you get a better iso/post player in Hachimura. Ideally a 2nd unit of Hachimura and DLO would be the way to go as that opens up a lot of options to run through both those guys whose overall skill sets are wasted a little bit as starters with our current roster composition. Both DLO and Rui can get their own shots in a variety of ways, strengths that augment the team more if Cam (or possibly Vando when he’s ready) and DK4 can serve as role-players in the starting five. The fact that Dalton has made this into a conversation is awesome.
The factor that affects everything and every team: injuries. With Wood, Hayes, Rui and Vando out one would expect the lakers to be at a disadvantage. Instead we’ve gone on a 6 game winning streak since our disastrous road trip. Getting those guys back is important and will ultimately make the Lakers better. Since they’re out it’s opened the door for more playing time and a starting spot for Cam and DK4 which has been a revelation on both ends of the court for the reasons above and also opened up some PT for Koloko. I like his energy and he competes well but there’s no denying this guy is both raw and rusty. I don’t need him to shoot threes, either, get good at the three things you need to be good at: rim protection, rebounding and screening. Do those well and you open a lot of doors for the team and us to feel more confident about potentially trading Hayes at some point. Other than that it’s been nice to see LBJ playing in every game so far and to see AD managing his five falls/game and eye injury well.
Wish the Emirates Cup was a little later in the season. We’re undefeated in Cup games dating back to it’s inception. Need more of ’em lol.

Two Former Boston Celtics Starters Could Transform Lakers To Champs

November 18, 2024 By LakerTom 8 Comments

With Rookie head coach JJ Redick continuing to make all the right moves, the Los Angeles Lakers suddenly find themselves only a pair of upgraded starters short from becoming a legitimate NBA championship contender.

The Lakers need to replace starting point guard D’Angelo Russell with a point guard who can shoot threes and defend at a high level and starting wing Rui Hachimura with a shot blocking center who can play with AD.
With a current top-five offensive rating and bottom-five defensive rating, the Lakers desperately need to start elite individual defenders who can not only guard multiple positions but also hold their own on the offensive end.

The Boston Celtics faced the same challenge two years ago when they replaced a point guard and center combination of Marcus Smart and Robert Williams with a Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis combo.
Ironically, the leading candidates to replace D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura in an upgraded Lakers starting lineup are former Celtics All-Defensive point guard Marcus Smart and center Robert Williams III.

There’s no question that Boston’s addition of elite defensive point guard Jrue Holiday and stretch center Kristaps Porzingis were the major catalysts that propelled the Celtics to their league best 18th NBA championship.
The Lakers would be smart to emulate what the Celtics did to win and pursue their own defensive upgrades at point guard and center by trading for former elite Boston starters Marcus Smart and Robert Williams.

Let’s look at what the Lakers would have to give up to trade for Marcus Smart and Robert Williams, how each player would fit with the current roster, and what resulting starting lineup and rotation would look like.

Marcus Smart and Robert Williams Trade

The Lakers trade D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Maxwell Lewis, and 2029 and 2031 unprotected first round draft picks for POA point guard Marcus Smart and defensive center Robert Williams III.

Trade essentially moves two current starters in Russell and Hachimura, two non-rotation young bench players in JHS and Lewis, and two first round picks for Smart and Williams to upgrade team’s starting defense.
Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III are proven two-way players who represent major defensive upgrades over one-way players D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura. Lakers give up some offense for better defense.

The Lakers are obviously hoping point guard Marcus Smart and center Robert Williams successfully fill the same identical roles for them that point guard Jrue Holiday and center Kristaps Porzingis did for the Celtics.
Smart and Holiday are statistically similar point guards who can shoot the three and can shut down opposing teams’ top scorers while Williams and Porzingis are often injured big men who can be dominant when healthy.

Russell and Hachimura are not valuable enough to motivate the Grizzlies and Trail Blazers to trade Smart and Williams so the Lakers will likely need to include their unprotected 2029 and 2031 first round picks as sweeteners.
With LeBron James now slated to play just another two more years, the Los Angeles Lakers cannot afford to miss this opportunity to tie their nemises Boston Celtics and win their both 18th and 19th NBA championships.

Besides upgrading the starting lineup, the trade for Smart and Williams III also opens up roster spots to promote two-way players Koloko and Olivari to standard rotation contracts and save almost $9 million in salaries.

Marcus Smart Transforms Point of Attack

Marcus Smart gives the Lakers the desperately needed legitimate two-way point-of-attack point guard to fill the role that Jrue Holiday now plays for the Boston Celtics and Alex Caruso currently plays for the OKC Thunder.

Trading for Smart fills the Lakers’ need for an elite perimeter defensive guard to slow down opposing teams’ top scorers without having to sacrifice offensive firepower and desperately needed volume 3-point shooting.
Marcus Smart’s not only a better 1-on-1 and team defender than Cam Reddish or Jarred Vanderbilt but he’s also a proven point guard who can run the offense, make plays for teammates, and rain threes from deep.

Right now, Cam Reddish has done a respectable job replacing D’Angelo Russell and giveing the Lakers’ starting lineup an elite perimeter defender who can slow down or shut down opposing top guard and wing scorers.
Unfortunately, Reddish has not been able to contribute enough on the offensive side of the ball to justify his defensive contributions. In the Lakers’ last 5 games, Cam has generated a negative net rating of -12.7.

While there remains the possibility of Jarred Vanderbilt eventually replacing Reddish, it’s no certainty that Vando will be able to contribute enough offensively to justify starting him at guard for his defense.
In the end, the Lakers need to trade for an elite two-way player like Marcus Smart if they want to be serious contender to win an NBA championship in what will likely be the final two seasons of LeBron James career.

Most importantly, Marcus Smart gives the Lakers a quality replacement for D’Angelo Russell at point guard to reduce wear and tear on LeBron James while dramatically balancing the team’s perimeter offense and defense.

Robert Williams Unleashes Anthony Davis

While plagued by injuries, Robert Williams III gives the Lakers the second defensive big they need to pair in a two-bigs starting lineup with Anthony Davis and to replace AD as rim protector when he goes to bench to rest.

While Williams struggled with major injuries last season and only played in 4 games this season, he has legitimate elite DPOY defensive level talent and, if he can remain healthy, would give the Lakers 2 DPOY candidates.
Williams is currently averaging 12.0 points, 5.7 boards, 1.7 assists, 1.7 blocks, and 1.7 steals in just 18 minutes per game. Robert has 123.1 offensive rating (#1), 111.6 defensive rating (#7), and +11.4 net rating (#2).

While Williams doesn’t stretch the court like Porzingis, he’s able to defend all five positions at all three levels. He can block shots to protect the rim as well as switch onto smaller and quicker guards and wings on the perimeter.
Robert essentially gives the Lakers a slightly smaller version of Anthony Davis. Together, they can essentially put a lid on the basket. Staggered, they can provide the Lakers with 48 minutes of elite rim protection every game.

While Williams’ injury history is a major concern, especially if the Lakers are giving up an unprotected first round pick as compensation, his $12.4 million salary would be a major bargain for a team with salary issues.
With both Anthony Davis and LeBron James earning max contracts, the Lakers need to limit what they spend for the rest of their starting lineup and 9 or 10-man rotation. Williams is moderate risk, high reward player.

Williams would not only give the Lakers a second defensive big who can protect the rim and defend 1–5 on the perimeter but also guarantees the Lakers will have an elite rim protection for all 48 minutes of every game.

Lakers Post-Trade Depth Chart and Rotation

The biggest move the Lakers made last summer was to hire JJ Redick, who is quickly proving to be exactly what L.A. needed as their new head coach. Redick is committed to both transforming and modernizing the Lakers.

JJ has the Lakers off to their best start in years. LA currently has a 9–4 record for the season, is undefeated at home, has a 5-game winning streak, and now holds 4th place in the highly competitive Western Conference.
After playing with the starting lineup that made last season’s West Finals and going 1–4 on their first road trip, Redick replaced D’Angelo Russell with Cam Reddish in the starting lineup and the team has now won five straight.

Trading for Smart and Williams would enable the Lakers to dramatically improve their starting point guard and center and upgrade their defense to be top-5 championship caliber just like their current top-5 NBA offense.
Adding an elite point-of-attack defensive guard like Marcus Smart and a DPOY quality big like Robert Williams III simply transforms the Lakers two-bigs starting lineup into a torid offensive and defensive juggernaut.

The Lakers would now have a starting lineup of Smart, Reaves, James, Davis, Williams; a bench of Olivari, Christie, Knecht, Vanderbilt, Koloko; and a development group of Vincent, James Jr., Reddish, Wood, Hayes.
The beauty of the roster after trading for Smart and Williams is how deep the roster is at each of the five positions and how young the team is with LeBron James at 39 and Anthony Davis at 30 being the oldest players.

The Lakers’ 15-deep post-trade roster includes a championship caliber starting lineup, a dynamic bench that should be among the best in the league, and a group of reserves with great development potential.