5 Things: Fix This Now

The solution won’t, and honestly can’t based on available resources, be from the outside. This group of men currently wearing a Lakers uniform need to look within and find the solutions to this dilemma of lethargy. Here are 5 ideas to turn this around right now.

1. Start Jarred Vanderbilt over Rui Hachimura. I love the potential of Rui, when he’s involved, getting 10+ shots and engaged on D he’s a difference-maker. Unfortunately, neither he nor the coaching staff seem able to figure out a way to make that happen consistently. As a result he ends up an after thought in the starting lineup. Seeing as the bench needs a scoring punch and Jarred Vanderbilt is a better defender, it makes sense to swap the two. JV has upped his 3 point accuracy to a respectable 33% as a 4th option which is exactly what the starting 5 needs and since it would also infuse the starting 5 with energy snd defense it’s a win-win.
2. Run more sets specifically for DeAndre Ayton. We don’t get Ayton involved early or often enough. Getting him some early scoring touches, and I’m not talking about the 8,098th lob bail out play, will help the overall offense and defense. Ayton is a moody dude and has always functioned better when he feels involved. It’s on the ball handlers and coaches to get him the ball in areas where he can go to work a little and feel engaged.
3. Ditch the switch everything defense. It’s overly simplistic, we lack the players to execute it and it’s stopping exactly zero. You have 2, possibly 3 if you count Bronny, decent to elite on-ball defenders in Vando and Smart. To willfully neuter them by allowing the offense to dictate what defender they want to expose is truly a silly and stupid choice by Reddick. You either need to add actions on D that allow for audibles to be called and switch to man within a possession or be better about mixing up coverages snd schemes like Darvin Ham was able to do with a lot of the same players we have now. It’s been clear the JJ is more of an offensive minded coach but there’s a lot of brain power in his staff and between them all they need to revisit this. Quickly.
4. Less LeBron. This one is delicate. You can’t bench LeBron, you can’t trust him to have the juice to score and defend for 35-40 minutes. When he shares the floor with Luka and Reaves we get nuked on D. So those minutes have to decrease. I think pairing LBJ with the most athletic Lakers makes the most sense now. Trying a lineup of LBJ, Hayes, Vando, Smart and Bronny or Hachimura makes a lot of sense to me. LaRavia might work in place of Rui but a lot of shine has come off of his play, of late. He plays hard but not smart, his shot from the outside has fallen off, and he’s not a great rebounder. When he and Rui share the floor our rebounding vanishes. It’s hard to play those 2 and win right now. LeBron and those 2 just means any team with an active, athletic roster gets to kicking our ass. 25-30 minutes of LeBron can hopefully be better and more impactful than 30-35 minutes. Save him for the playoffs when the game slows down.
5. Look for youth and athleticism in a trade. Top need now? Young, long defenders that can also slash to the rim. If they can shoot, great. Unlikely we can get a player that does all 4 with what we have to offer in a trade but carrying LeBron, Rui and LaRavia is a real hit to our speed and athletics. Rui and Jake seem like they could be a positive on that end but something in their mental makeup prevents it on a consistent basis.

The good news is I believe the solutions for success can, for the most part, be found within. The question is whether the coaches can make the right adjustments and the players execute them. If not this will go south real quick.