While the Lakers are confident they can compete for a championship this season, they also know all their optimism is based upon receiving positive answers to major question marks for the 10 key players in their rotation.
Frankly, major questions about every player in their rotation is what makes the Lakers a scary team. Those question marks could raise their ceiling to a championship stratosphere or plummet their floor to a nightmarish abyss. While the Lakers have done an excellent job surrounding their superstars with more size, shooting, and depth, they’re still heavily dependent upon LeBron James and Anthony Davis staying healthy and playing 65+ games.
For purposes of this article, we’re going to assume that LeBron James and Anthony Davis will play over 65 games and finish the season healthy and primed for the playoffs. That’s essential for any Lakers championship. We’re also going to assume the Lakers don’t make any more major moves before the start of the season or at the trade deadline. While L.A. is not the favorite, the assumption is the team wants to keep the current roster.
Here are the ten questions ten key Lakers players must answer to win a championship. The Lakers need the first three and five of the remaining seven questions to be answer affirmatively to win the NBA championship.
1. Can Anthony Davis finally take the torch from Lebron James?
With a new 3-year extension locking him in L.A. for the next five years, Anthony Davis has become the Lakers’ franchise face and alpha superstar. For the Lakers to win, AD must reclaim his standing as a top-5 superstar.
The big question is will Davis play the five like last season with James at the four or will the Lakers go two bigs with Hayes or a stretch big like Wood at the five and Davis at the four, where he’ll need to regain his outside shot. Regardless of where Davis ends up playing, he’s going to need to rediscover the outstanding midrange and 3-point shooting stroke he displayed when the Lakers won their 17th NBA championship in the bubble back in 2020.
The Lakers will open the season with two bigs and AD playing his preferred power forward. For the Lakers to win the championship, Davis must take the torch from James and become a legitimate MVP and DPOY candidate.
2. Can LeBron James continue to play like a top-ten superstar?
The coming NBA season could theoretically be LeBron James’ final season in purple and gold as he theoretically could exercise the player option for his final contract year to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
The big question for LeBron James is whether he will be able to recover from the foot injury that hobbled him the second half of the season and in the playoffs and prevented him from having his normal explosiveness. Where James will end up playing is also up in the air at the moment. The Lakers push to play two bigs may end up forcing LeBron James to slide from the four to the three, which would then have him defending wings.
The Lakers want to relieve LeBron of the pressure of being the team’s lead scorer and playmaker so he can be the ace in the hole they can call when they need a win. They’re counting on LBJ remaining a top-10 superstar.
3. Can Austin Reaves be 3rd best player on a championship team?
While undrafted 25-year olds who played four years of college basketball are usually considered to have a lower ceiling than younger 20-year olds who were one-and-done in college, Austin Reaves may be the exception.
What gives Reaves a much higher ceiling than expected is his preternatural basketball intelligence, ability to efficiently score the basketball at all three levels, and unique knack for drawing fouls from defenders in the paint. Reaves appears ready to translate his elite playoff performance into an elite regular season performance as Darvin Ham essentially plans to give Austin increased point guard responsibilities to see if that could be his future.
With added experience playing for Team USA, Austin Reaves is poised to enjoy a breakout season where he will get more minutes and touches and have a chance to prove he can be the third star on championship team.
4. Can D’Angelo Russell pull off a regular season redemption?
After a rough conference finals and offseason, D’Angelo Russell was forced to sign a 2-year $36 million contract (with year 2 player option) that waived his ‘no trade’ rights so Lakers will be able to trade him after December 15.
NBA analysts and bloggers have already projected D’Angelo Russell along with recently signed Rui Hachimura, recently drafted Jalen Hood-Schifino, and their 2029 first round pick as the team’s likely trade deadline package. That assumes the Lakers have already made up their mind to move on from Russell, which may not be the smart thing for them to do. Other than the conference finals, Russell was a great fit who had an outstanding season.
While the Lakers may ultimately trade him if the right opportunity arises, D’Angelo Russell is going to be driven to show the conference finals were just a fluke and he’s capable of being a championship starting point guard.
5. Can Jaxson Hayes force his way into Lakers starting lineup?
From all reports, the Los Angeles Lakers are serious about wanting to start 23-year old Jaxson Hayes at center so they can play two bigs and move Anthony Davis to power forward and LeBron James to small forward.
The Lakers believe Hayes can start at center like McGee and Howard did during the 2020 championship run, allowing Anthony Davis to play his preferred four and giving team front court positional size advantage.
For the Lakers’ two bigs plan to work, Jaxson Hayes will have to prove he can do what Thomas Bryant and Damian Jones could not do last summer, which is prove he can be the starting center on a championship team.
Jaxson Hayes is the biggest wild card on a team full of wild cards. A former #8 pick in the draft, Jaxson has the talent and athleticism to be a starter. Now he needs to show the drive and dedication to become a champion.
6. Can Rui Hachimura play in regular season like in playoffs?
After enjoying a career record playoff, Rui Hachimura was rewarded with a 3-year $51 million contract from the Lakers. The question the Lakers have now is whether they’re going to get ‘regular season Rui’ or ‘playoff Rui.’
Frankly, there’s no way ‘regular season Lakers’ get the full ‘playoff Rui,’ who set a record last playoffs shooting 48.7% from deep, which reduced his previous 60.0% playoff 3-point percentage to his still league best 51.9%.
But that doesn’t mean that the Lakers are not going to be thrilled with the more confident, versatile, and impactful version of Rui Hachimura that Darvin Ham, Phil Handy, and LeBron James have somehow molded.
Expect Rui Hachimura to show why he was a #9 pick in the draft and prove he can be a starter or play starter minutes as one of the Lakers’ first players off the bench. Rui could be a candidate for league Most Improved Player.
7. Can Gabe Vincent shoot in regular season like in playoffs?
Like Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent had a sizzling playoff performance for the Miami Heat, shooting a sizzling 37.8% from deep on 6.1 attempts per game making it all the way to the NBA Finals before losing to the Nuggets.
Vincent’s signing is part of the Lakers’ offseason effort to upgrade their 3-point shooting. The Lakers see him a likely shooting upgrade and possible defensive upgrade over Dennis Schroder, the team’s starter last season.
Gabe’s needs to prove he can shoot 37.8% from deep in the regular season, which would be a dramatic improvement over his journeyman 33.9% career regular season and 35.3 career playoff 3-point shooting stats.
Vincent will get a chance in camp to take the starting point guard job away from D’Angelo Russell and could be the Lakers steal in free agency if he can shoot like he did in the playoffs and replace Schroder’s solid defense.
8. Can Taurean Prince be the Lakers’ free agency steal?
Signing Taurean Prince was one of the first moves the Los Angeles Lakers made when free agency opened, locking up the highly coveted 3&D combo forward to a 1-year, $4.5 million contract using their Bi-Annual exception.
Prince gives the Lakers the bigger 3&D wing they’ve desperately needed to guard the elite wing scorers in the West. The 6′ 7′ Prince has a 7′ wingspan and shot over 38% from deep the last four years on 3.5 attempts per game. Signing for the BAE already makes Taurean a free agent steal for the Lakers but what they’ve hoping for is the young veteran who’s a plus defender and proven sniper who can backup either LeBron James or Anthony Davis.
If Taurean Prince plays solid D and shoots over 38% from deep on 3 to 4 attempts per game, he’ll play big minutes, be one of the Lakers’ steals of this free agency, and be an even more coveted free agent next summer.
9. Can Jarred Vanderbilt fix his offensive deficiencies?
As is always the case, the deeper a team gets into the playoffs, the more pressure identifies and takes advantage of its weaknesses. That’s what happened to D’Angelo Russell and it’s what happened to Jarred Vanderbilt.
Vando went from the immediate defensive spark that carried the Lakers into the play-in game and then the playoffs themselves to the player teams refused to guard in the corner, making the Lakers play 4 on 5 on offense. Vando must improve his 3-point shooting and ability to score when given the ball in traffic in the paint. Early reports say he’s changed his shooting stroke and has been working with Phil Handy on improving post moves.
Jarred is in the final year of his contract and could be in for a raise if he shows he’s no longer a liability on offense. He’ll get chances because his defense is so critical but his role and minutes will depend on his offense.
10. Can Cam Reddish break into Lakers 10-man rotation?
The Los Angeles Lakers completed an unusual 2019 NBA Draft Trifecta by signing Cam Reddish, #10 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, to go with #8 pick Jaxson Hayes and #10 pick Rui Hachimura already on the Lakers’ roster.
Like Hayes and Hachimura, Reddish is still looking to find a team where he can finally put his elite talent and athleticism together and find a team on which he can become the best possible player he’s capable of becoming. The Lakers are betting they can do the same for Hayes and Reddish as they may have done for Hachimura. Much as he was a huge rooter for Rui last season, LeBron has already come out and predicted big things for Cam.
Of the three 2019 top-10 draft picks, Cam Reddish is probably the biggest disappointment and has the biggest mountain to climb. Earning his way into a potential championship Lakers’ rotation would be a great first step.
Tom a really good article. I thought I would take a shot at answering all the questions (in my opinion):
Thanks for reading and commenting, Brian, Appreciated.
Here are my answers to your questions:
1. Yes I think AD will answer the call – I think he & Bron play about 32-22min each, AD starting at 5, Bron at 4, Vando or Rui at 3, AR at 2 & DLO at Point. Hayes or Biyombo/Wood will sub in when Bron rests, Prince at 3, Max at BKUP 2 & Gabe at point. 2. Yes Bron should be healthy & play 65+ games (I actually think he will exercise his player option & play 1 more year.
3. Reaves with his 3 month playoff run last year, plus this summer on team USA is only cementing his position as the 3rd best player on the Lakers (maybe he & DLO can have a friendly competition to see which is better, which will only make both of them better.)
4. Yes I think DLo will replicate his regular season last year (17.8 pts 47% FG 39.6% 3 pt 83% FT 6 Assists). The guy had one bad series of 4 games! He & Austin will be great together this year (maybe DLo gets an extension?)
5. I don’t think Hayes will start for this team, but will see a lot of action off the bench. He has an interesting skillset & should play both C & PF for 15 min or so. 6. No way Rui will EVER replicate his fantastic 16 game playoff run in the regular season, but if he play defense & rebound like that & average 13pt & shoot 35% from 3 (looking for open 3s & get to his other spots) he will be worth his new contract. 7. If Gabe can get to his sweet spots at the corners for short 3s – being selective (like other Laker 3 point shooters) will improve his 3%. Gabe will be first off the bench most of the time; his offense is comparable to Dennis overall (some +s, some -s) & I feel his defense is also comparable (better on the block but his hands aren’t as quick) so he is a good replacement at BKUP Pt. 8. Prince already is the steal of the off-season. Getting his defense, 3pt shooting in a bigger wing package for the BAE means he will play big minutes off the bench & may be starting some games.
9. I have seen videos of Vando working with Handy of his 3-point shooting motion (looks different in Before/After) & appears to be more effective. If he can raise his 3pt% to 35% on 3 or so a game, he will get a lot of time cause of his defensive skills.
10. With a 10-man rotation of AD, Bron, Rui, Reaves, DLo, Gabe, Prince, Vando, Hayes & Christie plus either Biyombo or Wood, I see little chance of Reddish being in the main rotation. He will have his chance of fighting for minutes with JHS, Lewis, & the 2 way guys (nice problem to have, but not to him.)
Also after looking at the schedule I figure in the 15 B-to-Bs Lakers will go maybe 16-14 in those 30 games. With the schedule we have & our team plus chemistry & health, I truly believe if healthy Lakers can win 54-55 games & get the 2nd seed in the West.
Great comments, Brian. Can’t disagree with any of them. It will be interesting to see how these guys look in camp and preseason. We have so many wild cards that look like they could be something, I can’t wait to see this team in action. Their potential is a championship imo but they need to hit on at least 7 of these 10 questions, which you did.
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Awesome article, great points on all the players. Reaves I think a lot of guys will end up reprising their roles from last season. The defense of guys like AD. JV. GV and TP along with where Rui fits in on that end will cornerstone 1 of our identity, if we go big or small points in the paint dominance will ve #2, as you mentioned we have guys who can get to the stripe and so FTA doninance will be 3 and valuing the possession will be #4. I exoect and oredict us to be a middle if the pack/above aberage three point shooting team and that largely leans in James and Russell. Everyone else’s threes will mistly be coming off the pass after that. Maybe Ham adds sone more soecific okays, hopefully inesbthat can get a clean look for a good shooter, but it’s going to be supplementary to thise other 4 pillars.
Nice article Tom. 1. I think AD is a natural number 2 guy. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing if he plays like he did down the stretch and in the playoffs.
2. We have seen LeBron gradually decline over the last few years, especially on the defensive end. But he is not suddenly going to lose it. I expect him to play close to the level he played at last year.
3. from the time Austin stepped into the starting line up he has played at that level. He has been getting rave reviews from the coaches and teammates on USS basketball proving that we saw last year was no fluke. Teams will adjust but he has a high IQ and will adjust as well.
4.DLO will be DLO. He had a positive impact until the Conf. finals. But look at Jaylen Brown with the Celtics. he was worse. It happens.
5.Hayes has the tools. lets see if our excellent development coaches can help him to become consistsnt.
6. I believe Rui will have a big year. lets face it, the Wizards have been a terrible organization and coming to the Lakers is what he needed. Phil really did wonders with him. While he is not going to shoot 49% from 3 i would not be surprised if he shot 38 to 40%. But the thing that not many people talk about was the defense he played. He garnered a lot of praise for his defense in the playoffs and defended to 2 through 5 well.
7. Vincent will be interesting. worst case we get pretty much the same as we did with Dennis. Best case we get Playoff Gabe. Either way, he is a quality addition.
8.YES.
9. I suspect Vando will improve on the offensive end. still a guy who is now said to be 6′ 10″ that can take on the best scorers in the league, even small guards loke JA will always have a place on my team.
10. Cam will be interesting. i really have no idea what we will see. He will have his hands full trying to break into the rotation.
You should have had a 11. Tom. Max Cristie. Concidering are lack of depth at guard I’m hoping that Max is ready to contibute this year. i did like what i saw from him in summer league. Hopefully it translates well for this season.
Haha. You’re right. I originally had Christie instead of Prince but then could not find a picture with Max instead of Taurean so I deleted Max and inserted Taurean so the article matched the picture.
Thanks, Jamie. This is a fun team and every player has motivation and upside. Can’t wait for the season to start.
Hello Tom. The season seems like light years away. Can’t wait. Great article, Tom.
Thanks for reading. Glad you like it, Buba.