Lakerholics

Lakers’ second-year head coach JJ Redick had to be smiling and thanking his lucky stars watching 31-year old Marcus Smart looking as spry and athletic on defense as the 27-year old version that had won a DPOY.

The Lakers desperately need better defense from their starting lineup and it’s obvious after Smart’s defensive performance against the Kings that he’s exactly what JJ Redick needs to turbo charge the starting lineup’s defense. Vincent will still start Tuesday night vs. Golden State as Redick probably wants to make sure Smart can sustain a high level of play and stay healthy. Once he shows that, Redick will quickly move him into the starting lineup.

What makes Smart a better option as the Lakers’ fifth starter than Vincent or Vanderbilt is his experience as an elite starter on a championship team and a defensive skillset that earned him three All-Defensive team honors.
While Smart’s only an inch taller than Vincent at 6′ 3,” his 6′ 9″ wingspan and 220 lbs enable him to defend forwards as well as guards. Unlike Vando, Smart is good enough on offense that he can’t be played off the court.

When you look at the Lakers three candidates to be the fifth starter until LeBron returns, Smart is the only legitimate NBA starter quality player. Vincent’s a great shooter and Vando has great size but they’re not starters.
The Lakers need their fifth starter to be a game changer and tone setter, not just another role player. They specifically need a defensive superstar, which is exactly what a healthy and hungry Marcus Smart could be.

JJ Redick has already walked back Gabe Vincent being the starter beyond the home opener so don’t be surprised if he changes his mind again and makes Marcus Smart the fifth starter vs. Warriors on Tuesday night.

While JJ Redick said the same five who started last night’s game against the Kings would start next Tuesday night’s home season opener against the Warriors, he wouldn’t commit who would be the starters after that game.

Barring LeBron James return from injury or a needed blockbuster trade, there’s an argument the Lakers should change their fifth starter each game to better optimize their starting lineup matchups against each opponent. The Lakers already know their starting lineup and rotation is going to be temporary, problematic, and vulnerable next month without LeBron so why not use different fifth starters to create better starting matchups?

For example, Redick might prefer Gabe Vincent as the Lakers’ fifth starter versus the Warriors because he’s an excellent matchup against Steph Curry due to his aggressive point-of-attack defense and red hot 3-point shooting.
Come Friday night against two-big Timberwolves, JJ could prefer to match up with Minnesota’s oversized lineup and start 6′ 8′ Jarred Vanderbilt, who’s had excellent success in the past guarding the Anthony ‘Ant Man’ Edwards.

There’s no question the Lakers need to start Doncic, Reaves, Hachimura, and Ayton but, depending on whom they’re playing and the matchups, Vincent, Vanderbilt, or Smart could easily be the team’s fifth starter.
With multiple contenders in the West rolling out two-bigs lineups, the Lakers could even find themselves starting Hayes or Kleber next to Ayton in a two-bigs lineup when they play a team like the Rockets or Mavericks.

Until LeBron returns or Pelinka pulls the trigger on a trade, the Lakers would be smart to abandon a fixed starting lineup and deploy different fifth starters to better match up against each opponent’s starting lineup.

The Lakers’ four greatest needs are an elite 3&D small forward to defend 2’s and 3’s, 3&D point-of-attack guard to defend 1’s and 2’s, and a pair of bigs to protect the rim and stretch the floor backing up or playing alongside Ayton.

Here’s a proposed blockbuster 4-team, 8-player trade that fills the Lakers’ greatest roster needs with four legitimate two-way players who can defend their positions and can’t be played off the court offensively in the playoffs. Dillon Brooks is an elite 3&D small forward who guards 2’s and 3’s, Keon Ellis a smart point-of-attack guard who defends 1’s and 2’s, Nick Richards a shot-blocking big, and Kelly Olynyk a versatile big who spaces the floor.

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The Spurs get Maxi Kleber and a 2028 pick swap for Kelly Olynyk and a second round pick that the Lakers send to Kings along with Dalton Knecht for Keon Ellis, who has fallen out of Sacramento’s guard rotation.
The Suns get Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt for Dillon Brooks and Nick Richards, who is now third in Phoenix’s center rotation. Here are the Lakers’ greatly improved starting lineup and depth chart rotation.

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A Lakers’ starting lineup of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Dillon Brooks, Kelly Olynyk, and Deandre Ayton would be bigger and better defensively. Redick has said he wants to play two bigs. Now he really will be able to.
Replacing Rui and Vando with Dillon and Kelly would upgrade the starters. Adding elite defenders like guard Keon Ellis and center Nick Richards would also strengthen the backups and upgrade their 10-man rotation.

This is the kind of trade Rob needs to pursue. We cannot go into another season with a roster that has too way more one-way than two-way players. There’s a limit to how much defense you can scheme. We need talent.

With LeBron James out with a sciatica injury the first month, the Lakers would be smart to kickoff the season with a starting lineup of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura, and Deandre Ayton.

That lineup would be exceptionally tall and long as Luka is 6′ 7″ with 7′ 1″ wingspan, Austin 6′ 5″ with 6′ 6″ wingspan, Jarred 6′ 8″ with 7′ 1″ wingspan, Rui 6′ 8″ with 7′ 2″ wingspan, and Deandre 7′ 0′ with 7′ 6″ wingspan. Considering multiple contending teams in the West like the Thunder, Rockets, and Mavericks may be starting double big lineups, the Lakers need to super-size their starting lineup so as not to lose positional size.

Doncic, Reaves, Hachimura, and Ayton should turn the Lakers’ starting lineup into an offensive juggernaut that can compensate for Vanderbilt’s lack of impact on offense in order to unleash his ferocity on defense.
With Jarred and Deandre providing defensive upgrades over LeBron and Jaxson and better effort and teamwork from Luka, Austin, and Rui, the Lakers’ starting lineup should be dramatically better on defense this year..

Until a trade is made, the only alternatives to starting Vanderbilt are Smart and LaRavia. Smart would fill a similar role as Vanderbilt defensively but would not be the offensive liability the latter can be against matchups.
The Lakers probably need to see more of LaRavia before seriously considering starting him. While he has upside, right now he lacks Vando’s defensive talent and mojo and Smart’s starting experience and heart.

The Lakers should begin the season with a starting lineup of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura, and Deandre Ayton to possess the height and length to matchup against the West’s bigger teams.

With LeBron James out for a month, we’re going to get a rare sneak preview of what the Los Angeles Lakers could look like with an offense-first Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves backcourt but without their second superstar.

It’s one thing to consider Austin Reaves’ skillset to be redundant when a team also has Luka Doncic and LeBron James in their starting lineup. Everything suddenly changes when you view the Lakers without James. While the Lakers were already Luka’s team, LeBron’s injury will only accelerate the transition, giving Luka and Austin opportunities they might have had to wait until next year to take advantage of and fully develop.

While the James, Doncic, and Reaves had a dismal 3-player net rating of +0.1 for the Lakers last season, Luka and Austin posted a strong 2-player net rating of +6.5 for last season, 5th best for Lakers with over 500 minutes.
Contrary to the +0.1 dismal 3-person net rating with James, Doncic and Reaves posted solid positive 3-player net ratings of +15.5 with Vincent, +13.9 with Finney-Smith, +9.9 with Hachimura, and +8.6 with Hayes.

That data suggests the poor fit of Lakers Big 3 last season could have been LeBron James and not Austin Reaves. Don’t forget, last season was the only time since his rookie year LeBron’s season on/off plus/minus was negative.
While no LeBron could cost the Lakers early season losses, don’t discount silver linings like ripped a Luka getting free reign, a hungry Austin taking his game to a new level, or an underrated Rui finally playing right position.

Surrounded by the right starters and backups, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves could be a championship backcourt. The conundrum is right now the only likely way to get the right starters and backups is trading Reaves.