Lakerholics

Despite injuries to LeBron and Luka, JJ Redick has the 5–2 Lakers playing championship caliber basketball, looking to win their fourth straight game in Portland tonight while setting a pace that translates to a 60-win season.

The Lakers’ 130–120 wire-to-wire win over the Heat with their #5 defense showcased how solid L.A.’s supporting cast is as Doncic and Reaves had subpar games but got major help from LaRavia, Smart, and Hayes to win. While it’s ironic to call a +14 29/11/11 triple double from Luka and +7 26/4/11 game from Austin as ‘subpar’, L.A. did need +17 15/5/1/1/1 from Hayes, +8 25/5/8/4/0 from LaRavia, and +11 3/4/2/1/0 from Smart to win.

Redick has the Lakers off to a strong start winning five of seven with nearly every player on the roster exceeding expectations despite James already missing seven, Smart four, Doncic three, and Ayton two games to injuries.
The wins and how every player L.A. retained or signed this offseason, has exceeded expectations, including Doncic, Reaves, Hachimura, Vanderbilt, Ayton, LaRavia, Smart, and Hayes, confirm the elite job Redick has done.

We saw signs last season of a Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves juggernaut backcourt winning without LeBron James but that vision is in full bloom right now, which should scare the hell out of every other NBA team.
The Lakers’ championship blueprint is going to be 48 minutes of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves on the ball attacking the paint every game while LeBron James becomes the team’s off-ball jack-of-all trades wild card.

JJ deserves high praise for how the Lakers are already exceeding their expected ceiling without LeBron and other key players and how much better they could become when they get LeBron back and make a trade.

The Lakers should thank the basketball gods as the silver lining of LeBron James’ injury turbocharged Luka Doncic’s and Austin Reaves’ breakout to gave the Lakers the perfect blueprint for winning the NBA championship.

That blueprint is to stagger the Lakers’ talented young point guards Doncic and Reaves so the ball’s in one of their hands all 48 minutes of each game and frees a well-rested high IQ James to be their off-ball jack-of-all-trades. With Luka’s and Austin’s elite shot-making and playmaking on the ball and LeBron’s savvy picking, rolling, cutting, rebounding, and posting up off the ball, the Big Three should transform the Lakers’ offense into a juggernaut.

Despite injuries plaguing lineups and rotations, the Lakers’ defense also showed promising signs, especially from Marcus Smart, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Jake LaRavia plus steady play from Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton.
The Lakers still need LeBron James, Gabe Vincent, Maxi Kleber, and Adou Thiero back from injury. They must also swap $30-$40 million in expiring contracts for players who’ll be under contract and tradable next summer.

Before the start of the season, the Lakers were believed to be a starting small forward and backup center away from being a championship contender. The ascension of Doncic and Reaves has changed that.
While they still need a starting small forward and backup center, Luka’s and Austin’s breakouts have already transformed this Lakers team into a championship contender, although still a tier below the OKC Thunder.

The goal now is to win games, hone the offense and defense, develop team chemistry, and figure out what they’re missing that LeBron James and the other injured can’t answer, and who and for whom do they want to trade.

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WHOM ARE LAKERS LIKELY TO TRADE?

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Right now, the three players most likely to be traded by the Lakers are Rui Hachimura ($18.2M), Gabe Vincent ($11.5M), and Maxi Kleber ($11.0M), who are on expiring contracts and together earn $40 million per year.

Right now, the Lakers have 14 players under contract and are $1.1 million below the first apron, which means they won’t be able to sign a 15th player until after January 18th, when they could fit a prorated minimum salary.
Since they’re so close to the first apron, the Lakers need to trade three players earning $40 million per year for two players earning $35 million before the deadline to open up cap space to fill the two open roster spots.

Strategically, breakouts by Luka and Austin without LeBron should push the Lakers to go-all in to win the championship this season as it may be their best opportunity in the next decade versus the Thunder and Spurs.
Watching Luka play like an MVP and Austin like an All-Star should also put an end to any doubts LeBron may have had about the Lakers being able to compete for a championship this season. Look for James to return soon.

The big question facing the Lakers right now is whether to use their one tradable draft pick before the trade deadline or wait until next summer when they would be able to offer three first round picks on draft day?
With Doncic and Reaves taking their games to new levels, the Lakers may already have their second superstar and should not hesitate to trade their pick for the right player(s) who would fit their championship blueprint.

Look for the Lakers to trade Hachimura, Vincent, Kleber, their 2031 first round pick, and their 2033 second round pick for an elite 3&D starting small forward and backup center who can protect rim or stretch floor.

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WHOM SHOULD LAKERS TRADE FOR?

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The early season ascensions of Doncic and Reaves doesn’t change the Lakers’ core need for an elite 3&D starting small forward or impact backup center but it could lower the bar for what the team needs from the trade.

What if the Lakers could fill their starting small forward and backup center needs without having to give up Rui Hachimura? What if they could fill the backup center need with a combination of Jaxson Hayes and Maxi Kleber?
With LeBron primarily playing off the ball this season, one idea the Lakers should pursue is James as the team’s backup stretch five center. Luka and Austin running pick-and-rolls with LeBron as the center would be lethal.

While the Lakers may decide to improvise when it comes to backup center, they clearly have a major need for an elite 3&D bigger wing who could start at small forward and defend the bigger wing and guard scorers in the West.
The top three trade candidates to fill the Lakers’ need for an elite 3&D starting small forward who can be a lockdown defender are the Heat’s Andrew Wiggins, the Suns’ Dillon Brooks, and the Pelicans’ Herb Jones.

Wiggins earns $27.2 million, Brooks $21.1 million, and Jones $13.9 million so Lakers could trade Hachimura and Vincent or Kleber for Wiggins, or Vincent and Kleber for Brooks, or Vincent or Kleber and Knecht for Jones.
Trading for Wiggins would probably also cost the Lakers their one tradable first round draft pick while they might be able to get Brooks for a second. Jones could cost more than the Lakers first and second round picks.

Look for the Los Angeles Lakers to trade for Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, and their 2032 second round pick to the Phoenix Suns for Dillons Brooks to be their starting small forward with Jaxson Hayes as their backup center.

Despite injuries sabotaging training camp and the start to this season, Lakers fans have to be giddy right now as the superstar play of both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves has transformed the Lakers’ ceiling as a team.

In a wild roller coaster week of crazy ups and downs, the Lakers lost James for a month and suffered a lackluster opening night loss to the Warriors but rebounded behind statement games by Luka and Austin vs. Timberwolves. Lakers hopes then dove when they lost Luka for a week but bounced back when Austin went off for 51 and Lakers w/o Luka and LeBron beat Kings, only to dive again when Austin’s 41 was not enough to defeat the Blazers.

Despite the frustration and disruption of the injuries, it’s only taken four games for Doncic’s and Reaves MVP and All-Star level play to transform the Lakers’ ceiling from play-in team to legitimate championship contender.
Suddenly, concern whether Doncic and Reaves could be a championship backcourt has been replaced by visions of a juggernaut Lakers’ offense that staggers two 50-ball shooters so one or both are on court for all 48 minutes.

Austin Reaves has rightly played himself into being untouchable, which is the best possible answer for both him and the Lakers. There is now no question that Doncic and Reaves are the Lakers’ backcourt of the future.
The Lakers also received good early play from Ayton, Hachimura, Smart, and Vanderbilt but nothing that changed their need for an elite 3&D starting small forward and defense-first backup center to protect rim.

The version of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves we’ve glimpsed in these first four games has a chance to be the best offensive backcourt in the league and they’re only 26 and 27 years old. Just surround them with 3&D guys.

It was just one game but was Friday night’s blowout of a Timberwolves team that had eliminated the Lakers in five games in last season’s playoffs a sign of what this team could be without LeBron or just another anomaly?

The daunting challenge after winning a statement game like the Lakers generated Friday night versus the Timberwolves is proving the big win was a legitimate breakout moment and not just another early season blip. James is scheduled to be re-evaluated in mid-November, which means the Lakers will have at least 10 more games and maybe more to show they’ve found the blueprint for winning an NBA championship without LeBron.

The Lakers’ championship blueprint is a relentless downhill juggernaut offense powered by Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves combined with an elite point-of-attack defense fueled by Marcus Smart and Jarred Vanderbilt.
By staggering Doncic and Reaves to keep the offense always sharp and bringing Smart and Vanderbilt’s off the bench to help Reaves win the non-Luka minutes, Redick’s put together a blueprint to win without LeBron.

Besides their pair of star shot and playmakers in Doncic and Reaves and elite point-of-attack defenders in Smart and Vanderbilt, the Lakers key role players Hachimura, Ayton, and LaRavia defended well and made shots.
That sweet combination of elite shooting and tough defense is exactly what Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves need offensively and defensively from their teammates in the starting lineup and coming off the bench every game.

The Lakers need to double down and play hard and smart tonight and show that last night’s league best 137.6 offensive rating and league 4th best +20.6 net rating (#4) are their new championship blueprint and not an anomaly.

JJ Redick dances to a different drumbeat than most basketball coaches. After watching the smaller Gabe Vincent get abused down the stretch by a bigger Jimmy Butler, JJ doubled down on his small ball starting lineup.

Instead of replacing Vincent with the taller, longer Smart, Redick rolled out the same starting lineup that had lost on opening night to the Warriors to prove to the players it was how they played, not who played, that mattered. Redick wanted his players to understand they didn’t lost the game because Gabe started for LeBron. They lost a game they could have won because they blew the 3rd quarter, shot 25% from three, and missed 11 free throws.

Last night, the Lakers came out and rewarded their coach’s gutty decision with a 128–110 blowout victory over the same Timberwolves team that had eliminated them in five games in the first round of last season’s playoffs.
Luka Doncic led the way with 49/11/8 while Austin Reaves added 25/7/11 and Rui Hachimura 23/2/0. Ironically, while Gabe did not have a great game, Smart and Vando together off the bench were electric on defense.

Most young, inexperienced second-year head coaches would simply have replaced Vincent with Smart but Redick instinctively understood that was not the right decision and would be wrongly throwing Gabe under the bus.
While Smart could still replace Vincent in the starting lineup, the move by Redick not to panic and change the starters but instead to focus on fixing the real reasons they lost the opener turned the Lakers’ season around.

Now, instead of worrying about falling behind while waiting for LeBron, the Lakers can suddenly celebrate and rejoice at the possibility that, even without LeBron James, this year’s team could be better than last year’s.