5 Things: The Return of the King

With all signs pointing to a return of LeBron James, the Lakers a re approaching full-strength (minor injuries or illnesses aside). This will create not only a shift in the starting line up, but also a ripple effect on down the roster as Redick squeezes LeBron’s 30+ MPG out of the rest of the team not named Luka, Ayton or Reaves. Add in that we salvaged the road trip with a very convincing win over Milwaukee and the Lakers a re primed to keep pace with the logjam in the west.

1. Who loses the starting spot to LeBron? It’s a real toss up between Hachimura (legacy option, chemistry option, spacing option) and Smart (defense option, grit option, vet). If I had to take a guess I’d say Smart for the following reasons: the bench lacks a guard and a shooter. Smart mostly fits into both those molds. If Rui were more aggressive in hunting his own offense or even just better at breaking his man down off the dribble I’d start to lean more in that direction. He doesn’t. Smart is much better at creating something resembling an NBA offense than Rui is. In terms of the starting five, Rui provides essential spacing and a release valve for when the ball handler drives the ball into the teeth of the defense. Pairing LeBron with Smart would be a paint clogging choice to make as it’s hard to imagine team’s rushing to close out on the 23.1% three point shooting of Marcus and surrender a drive to LeBron or a lob to Ayton from Luka. Smart will up that number, I have to hope because it’s difficult to imagine him shooting any worse from distance (although it’s technically possible…) and at 93.8% from the stripe it makes infinitely more basketball sense to have him play with the ball and drive it into the paint after the starters theoretically get into the bonus. The issue for me is if, with the ball in his hands, the only number Marcus consistently calls for pull up threes is his own. That would be an unmitigated disaster, and not really emblematic of the leadership skills I had hoped we brought him in for. He could be incredibly effective driving and kicking or creating easy buckets for Thiero or kick out to Knecht and get those guys the quality shots that build NBA level confidence. He doesn’t need to be a volume three point threat on this team, he needs to be a leader.
2. Ayton is starting to find a new level of comfort. I thought his last game was his best in a Lakers uniform. he defended, he yelled at the sky, he made shots from 15-20 feet out and above all he played hard for every second he was on the floor. So many of the questions surrounding players with a bad rep often stem from the situations they find themselves in. You can imagine there are a number of players out there that are square pegs being forced into round holes (cough-cough Cooper Flagg cough-cough) and are just needing a change of scenery that allows them to be the best version of themself. That seems to be the case here. He was stellar against the Bucks and we need him to keep that fire lit and burning brightly.
3. Dalton Knecht slowly turning it around. Since he started popping a couple elbow jumpers/game a couple weeks back, Knecht has started to show signs of life. He’s up to 32.6% from three, is shooting 63.2% from 2 (which makes me want to see him let the defense fly by and take step into a long two more often if not drive it to the rim harder) and he has been competing on D. His defensive numbers are up, at a miniscule level, and his body language looks much improved. Unfortunately, Dalton is on the short list of players whom I expect to get bumped out of the rotation, barring foul trouble or injury, in lieu of LeBron James.
4. Introducing Adou Thiero! Our draft pick from the summer made his Lakers debut and it wasn’t half bad. His length and lateral quickness were a solid defensive addition and he got to the stripe for his first NBA points and scored his first NBA bucket on a lob near the end of the game. Post-game drama aside, Theiro’s debut was just about everything a fan could hope for. Not gonna lie, I thought Vando just might have fought the ref for the ball until half the team came over and stepped in lol. Ahhh, Vando, you got the chip of a 1,000 Suns on your shoulder my man. It will be interesting to see what kind of role Adou can carve out once LBJ is playing his normal allotment of minutes. There’s a list of players he could pass on the depth chart if he can shoot a respectable percentage and play NBA level, or better, defense. That includes Vanderbilt, Knecht, Bronny, and Kleber. It’s on him to be both consistent and ready in what will likely be an up and down rookie season in terms of role.
5. The task at hand. As we gear up to face the Jazz in what looks to be another wasted season, it’s important to stay in the moment and focused on the job that needs doing. Despite being one of just 4 teams that has won double-digit games (Detroit in the east, and OKC, Denver and ourselves in the west) we’re still sitting 4th in the western conference standings. That’s what happens when you’re not prepared for an opponent like we’ve shown against Portland or Atlanta, from your coach giving up when you’re down 20 at the end of the 3rd and when the players go into a game lacking the proper focus and energy (an issue that starts at the top and bleeds all the way down to the guy who wipes the floors with the cool Lakers mop). This team really feels like one young player breaking out or Smart rediscovering just some of his ability to shoot the ball or Vando recapturing the magic on both ends that helped us storm our way back into the playin three seasons ago. Anyone of those things feels like it could catapult us to almost even with Denver. Two or three of those and suddenly OKC, while still clearly leading the pack, might start looking over their shoulders a bit more. It’s not like the Lakers have been close to healthy or even showed us what the best they can be looks like (Milwaukee felt awfully close, though). SO here’s hoping the best basketball is in front of us, that there’s some magic left in some of our role-players to summon forth and add impact and consistency and that Redick can keep his cool as much as seems to enjoy the wins. It all comes with it, nothing to do but figure out how to adapt and thrive. Overcoming yourself is the first step to being great. Ask the King, whose return is imminent.