FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

LeBron James’ future: Retire, stay with Lakers or join Warriors/Cavs? What we know

LeBron James’ chest heaved, sweat dripping off his brow as he tried to really rev his engine for the first time in a month.

Everything had changed for the Los Angeles Lakers the game before they played the Dallas Mavericks on April 6, his new life as a third option gone in the blink of a pair of muscle strains, first to Austin Reaves and then to Luka Dončić.

James had stepped back so the Lakers could win, so they could put together a credible chance at a championship. Now without their two leading scorers, there was no more time for complementing. As it’s been for almost all of his career, it was all on James again.

If there was ever a reason to push this 41-year-old body that had logged the most minutes and games in NBA history to its absolute limits, this was it. And whether this was his last stand before a stunning retirement or yet another improbable chapter in his storied career, he would embrace the chance to remind the masses that this is how his legacy was built.

On Saturday in Los Angeles, James will lead a Lakers team into the playoffs as heavy underdogs against the Houston Rockets. His team will be overmatched and undermanned. And in plenty of circles, his team will have been counted out. Over 23 NBA seasons and 18 playoff appearances, James has been here before. Whether he’ll ever be here again is a different story entirely.

Team and league sources granted anonymity to speak openly say James has made no decisions regarding his future; that retirement remains a real possibility. The notion that James would want a farewell tour — long cited as evidence that this season was not his last — is false, those sources said, with several sources even hearing that directly from James himself.

The hypothetical tour, like so many other things dealing with James, is something people believed he’d want. Just like they believed he’d be unable to meld his style around the Lakers’ guards or stomach the organization prioritizing its future around younger stars.

That warmup session in Dallas came shortly after the Lakers played their best basketball since the 2019-20 championship season, a stretch of play that helped stoke James’ passion for winning and repair bridges that had been damaged during his eight years with the Lakers.

After months of speculation that the two parties were headed for a divorce, a strong March changed the Lakers’ landscape and, potentially, the future between the organization and player. Winning, sources said, increased the chances of James and the Lakers extending their partnership.

Around the league, rumors also persist that one last run in Cleveland, or a superstar Steph Curry-James duo in Golden State, are plausible possibilities as well. Per team sources, the Warriors’ interest in James this summer remains serious. The Cavs, and the prospect of a goodbye tour where James’ journey began, are also still widely seen by rival executives as a legitimate possibility. But in both cases, the luxury tax poses obstacles that likely mean James would have to make major financial concessions to come their way.

His decision, whatever it might ultimately be, will undoubtedly have family considerations heavily factored in. And the prospect of relocation that comes with some of these options is nothing to gloss over, with one executive from an interested team sharing that James’ reluctance to leave Los Angeles has been no secret among outside suitors.

James is teammates with his son Bronny, whose contract runs through next season with a team option for 2027-28. He has called the opportunity to play meaningful basketball with his son the “greatest” achievement of his career. His wife, Savannah, and 11-year-old daughter, Zhuri, have lived in Los Angeles since James came from Cleveland in 2018. His youngest son, Bryce, redshirted this past season at Arizona.

But that hasn’t stopped team and league sources from wondering where he will play his 24th NBA season or if he’ll even play one at all.

For now, though, he enters the playoffs as the Lakers’ leader — his relationship with the team, coaching staff and organization all in a good place — just in time for him to take on a massive challenge.

During James’ only game in Cleveland this season, on Jan. 28, everyone saw the star wipe tears from his eyes during an in-game video tribute.

Every time the Lakers played in Cleveland, the Cavaliers showed one on the scoreboard. This time, though, James cried.

“Didn’t expect that,” he said.

LeBron James got surprisingly emotional in his return to Cleveland on Jan. 28.David Richard / Imagn Images
Before that game, two of James’ teammates saw TV cameras and Ohio media members hanging out around James’ locker while they chatted up the player they used to cover.

One player was convinced James would continue to play, that the early-season rust from the sciatica injury that cost him training camp, the preseason and the first 14 games had just begun to shed and that he had a lot to offer. The other thought James was headed to retirement.

“There’s nothing left to prove,” the second Lakers player reasoned. “It’s like playing a video game you’ve already beaten 80 times. You’ve done it.”

That night, those players agreed they didn’t know what would happen with James beyond this season — other than that they didn’t think he’d be with the Lakers.

As recently as last summer, there were strong signs that the partnership between James and the Lakers might be nearing an end. The most revealing piece of evidence came in late June, when James picked up the $52.6 million player option on his deal and there was no offer from the Lakers to add years to his contract, as The Athletic reported at the time.

For a player of his stature, one who has been relentlessly recruited for the entirety of his storied career, this was a notable shift. What’s more, there was the now-infamous statement from James’ agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, who questioned whether the Lakers were willing to build a championship contender before James’ playing days were done. An ESPN report in late January only made matters worse, as it highlighted the sometimes-difficult dynamics between James and longtime owner Jeanie Buss.

“It’s really not right, given all the great things LeBron has done for the Lakers, that he has to be pulled into my family drama,” Buss told The Athletic in response to the ESPN story. “To say that it wasn’t appreciated is just not true and completely unfair to him.”

Two of the NBA’s biggest entities — a marquee franchise and its largest individual star — seemed, even to Lakers players, like two massive steamships slowly pushing apart without the ability to make a quick course correction.

But the landscape surrounding LeBron has changed dramatically, with developments unfolding on and off the floor that could lead James to remain with the Lakers.

Injuries to James, Dončić and Reaves throughout the season kept the Lakers’ best players from finding real rhythm with one another, leading to some levels of on-court discomfort between the three. Team sources said the stars often worried about making sure everyone was involved enough, fearing the fallout from establishing a clear hierarchy.

Wins over New York and Minnesota at home in March with James dealing with his nagging foot issues, though, made it clear to the NBA’s all-time leading scorer that it would be best for him to take a step back for the betterment of the team.

“I’m not an idiot. I understand,” he’d later say on his Mind the Game podcast. “I’m well aware of my game and what I can do for a basketball team.”

James told Dončić and Reaves to forget about him on the court, that they simply needed to play freely like they did without him. He would figure out how to bend his game to suit them.

In 11 games during March with that hierarchy established, James starred in his complementary role. He averaged just 18 points but he did it on 55 percent shooting from the field. He grabbed 7.5 rebounds, handed out 7.1 assists. The Lakers went 15-2 in that month, beating winning teams like the New York Knicks, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Houston Rockets.

“It sells papers a lot easier and clippings and podcasts if you say, ‘LeBron, that their team is better off without him,’” James said after a win in Miami. “But they’re absolutely wrong.”

James celebrated Dončić and Reaves’ successes on his social media stories and he golfed with his coaches and teammates during a lengthy road trip while belief seeped into the locker room that the team was maybe capable of a deeper playoff run than even they expected earlier in the year.

Then, in a blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 2, the Lakers lost both Dončić and Reaves. And just like that, it set them on a different course, again pushing James to the front of the Lakers’ line as their hope for the year deflated.

The Lakers’ ability to level up in March, when faith was restored on both sides in regards to this complicated partnership, could have a significant impact on James’ future.

According to team and league sources, the Lakers have not closed the door on James returning next season. While it’s been the organization’s public position that it hopes James retires as a Laker, the run in March was the clearest example of the basketball advantages of pairing him with Dončić and Reaves.

“It was real,” one Lakers executive said of the stretch, the winning and the chemistry.

The fact that James agrees with that assessment is crucial, as league sources say he was intrigued and encouraged by what they accomplished during that stretch. And considering the priority he’s still placing on winning, that development — and the what-might-have-been feeling that came with the injuries that followed — appears to have reshaped his view of remaining with the Lakers.

Both team and league sources praised multiple people for the run, from coach JJ Redick deftly managing the pride and ego of those involved to James’ self-awareness to Dončić and Reaves’ empathy for a player of James’ accomplishments taking on a smaller offensive role.

The stretch also could’ve opened James’ eyes to the potential of significant on-court success again in Los Angeles, a league source said.

The Lakers’ strong stretch in March, and the good vibes and chemistry that followed, shifted the conversation about James’ possible future with the team.Rich Storry / Getty Images
Winning, the source added, is what makes James happiest in a basketball context, and March showed that the Lakers not only could be a winning team but one that won playing the right way with people celebrating one another’s successes.

According to two high-ranking team sources, the prospect of James returning is still in play from the organization’s point of view. But that scenario would require patience from James, as the Lakers have approximately $50 million in salary cap room and plan on prioritizing roster balance above all else as they continue to build around Dončić.

Reaves, who according to league sources intends to decline the final year of his contract with the Lakers and become an unrestricted free agent, is expected to have top-of-market interest from multiple teams, both those with cap space and those that would need to create it to sign him. Reaves said that he hopes to remain with the Lakers and has strong advocates in Dončić and James. Dončić, according to a league source, has enjoyed his time with James as a teammate.

But the summer of 2026 has long been positioned as a moment of change for the organization, with the team having access to both salary cap space and three first-round picks to use in trades. And as it relates to James and his potential contract negotiations — with the Lakers or any other team — there’s a central question that only he can answer: How much of a factor will money be when he makes his decision?

According to Spotrac, James has been paid a combined $581 million over the course of his career, and he is the first active NBA player to reach billionaire status (with a “real time net worth” of $1.4 billion in March), per Forbes. That financial backdrop matters, of course, because the teams most often cited as realistic options outside of Los Angeles would very likely require a hefty decline in pay.

The Warriors, for example, would likely be limited to the $15 million, non-taxpayer midlevel exception at best and a minimum-salary deal ($3.3 million) at worst. A sign-and-trade would be possible, but the Lakers would have to be incentivized to cooperate and that route would also hard-cap the Warriors at the first apron (projected at $209 million).

The Cavs, meanwhile, are in an even more restrictive position. Even if they let Keon Ellis and Dean Wade walk in free agency, they would be $7.7 million over the second apron. In order to offer the $6 million taxpayer midlevel exception, they would need to be $6 million under the second apron, and approximately $45 million from where they are now, to use the non-taxpayer MLE. As for the sign-and-trade path, that’s not allowed for teams above the first apron (they are approximately $21 million over at present).

Per league sources, a move across town to the LA Clippers, where James has a very close relationship and championship history with coach Tyronn Lue, could also become part of the conversation. That route, unlikely though it is believed to be, would give James and his family a second option when it comes to staying put in Los Angeles. The belief among league sources is that if James were to choose another team, he would do so only with the idea that he would elevate it to serious championship contention.

For all the teams involved, the Lakers would have the easiest pathway to signing James.

As the Lakers regrouped following the injuries to Reaves and Dončić, James began to forge a new path for his team. Fortunately it came against the Curry-resting Warriors, the Devin Booker-less Suns and the Utah Jazz-less Jazz.

In those three wins, James averaged 24 points and 9.7 assists on 56.3/50/72.2 shooting splits, still throwing down the age-defying dunks in transition like he had all year as the league’s top fast-break scorer. Just now it was Luke Kennard and Bronny James on the assists instead of Dončić and Reaves.

The NBA rewarded his play during the stretch by naming him Western Conference Player of the Week.

“I think it was really frustrating for him not to be there Day 1 of training camp, and it was really frustrating for him to not be there on opening night,” Redick said after the regular-season finale. “He played in 60 of the 68 remaining games, and he played in a bunch of back to backs. He had not a good season, not a great (season) — he had a remarkable season. All things considered. You take away the fact that he’s in his 23rd year and he’s 41 years old, he had a remarkable season.

“The fact that those things are real — and they’re very real in terms of the day-to-day management — it’s unbelievable what he did this year.”

James finished the season as just one of four players to average at least 20 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Nikola Jokić, Dončić and young Atlanta Hawks star Jalen Johnson were the others. It’s his sixth time hitting those marks since he joined the Lakers — becoming the oldest player in league history with those averages each time he’s done it.

It’s one of the biggest, and probably best, arguments against James retiring: he’s simply still too good. Before James will make any decision about his future, he’ll get an amazing opportunity to add to his legacy. The Lakers will open the playoffs without either Dončić or Reaves, the team tapping him back into service as the alpha.

Redick said Reaves and Dončić are both out “indefinitely.” Dončić is due back in Los Angeles late Friday after receiving his final treatment in Madrid for his Grade 2 hamstring strain. Reaves has been with the team in Los Angeles and been undergoing a variety of treatments in both the Lakers and Los Angeles Dodgers facilities, per a team source.

The pressure on the Lakers because of the injuries is relatively low, the ask of James so large that it’s almost impossible to fathom. It’s a situation built for him to either be the hero or, at minimum, a brave warrior doing his best to extend the season.

“Win-win,” one team source said.

James is a calculated decision-maker and hasn’t been prone to emotions clouding his judgment, one league source pointed out. Answers about his future will come when the time is right — something James said himself during All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles in February.

“When I know, you guys will know,” he said. “I don’t know. I have no idea. I just want to live. That’s all.”

Thursday, as the Lakers wrapped their practice before the playoffs, James spoke with a raspy voice. He acknowledged he’d been fighting off a sickness. Still, his focus was unwavering.

The Lakers would need to box out; they’d need to defend Kevin Durant and Alperen Şengün. They’d lock in, pay attention to detail and focus on the immediate.

The Lakers, like James, couldn’t waste time on what was to come next.

“The moment is all we have,” he said hoarsely. “At the end of the day, that’s all that matters.”

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

With the Lakers set to begin their playoff run, now is a perfect time as any to unpack a question that’s nearly as old as basketball itself…

What matters more: offense or defense?

There are clichés such as “offense wins games and defense wins championships” that have been used for ages, but what’s the actual answer?

Modern offenses push the pace of play and shoot more threes each year, making it feel like offense is king. This decade, Nikola Jokić has won three MVP Awards because of his offense. There is no defense, no matter how elite, that has figured out a way to stop Steph Curry.

At the highest levels, it’s starting to feel like the best defenses can’t measure up to the best offenses. However, coaches still view them as equally important.

“I think you need both,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said. “And there’s been three outliers in the last 25 years. I know the Lakers, I think it was ‘01, were a bottom-third defense, but they were number one in the playoffs. Really, Denver in ‘23 was the only team that had an average defense, and then they were average in the playoffs.”

In the regular season, the 2001 Lakers had the seventh-worst defense in the NBA, but improved to first in the playoffs. With a dramatically improved defense and the most dominant offensive force in Shaquille O’Neal, that LA team won it all, losing just one game in the postseason.

During the 2020s, 18 of the 24 teams that have reached the conference finals ranked in the top ten offensively. And three of the champions finished in the top five. The only two exceptions were the 2020 Lakers, who were 11th in offensive rating, and the 2022 Warriors, who were 16th.

However, in the postseason, both teams morphed into elite scoring machines. With an offensive rating of 115.6, no one was better on that end of the floor than LA in the bubble. Golden State was fourth in 2022 at 114.5.

After winning a title together on the Heat in 2006, Shaq and Pat Riley couldn’t hold it together and turned on each other pretty fast. I guess when you’re used to winning, you really can’t tolerate losing and someone must be blamed. For Riley, Shaq fit the bill. And for Shaq, well, how dare Pat Riley do such a thing. So, naturally, you get two guys in each other faces ready to kill each other because Jason Williams was late to practice one day. In other words, you get beef. Please enjoy this heaping helping of Miami beef.

The defensive numbers for title contenders in this era have been high as well. During the 2020s, 14 of the 24 teams that have reached the conference finals were top-10 in defensive rating. But four of the five NBA champions were in the top five. As Redick mentioned, the only outlier was the 2023 Nuggets, who were 15th.

The Lakers will play the Rockets in the first round of the playoffs, and head coach Ime Udoka discussed the balance between offense and defense before the Christmas Day matchup against the Lakers earlier this season.

“For us, we try to be balanced and we’re somewhere up in the top five area of both,” Udoka said. “I want to do that and that’s where you have the great balance, great scoring, but you need to have the versatile of pieces to do it.

“I think we have a ton of defenders, naturally. We talked about keeping our identity the last few years of being a high-level defensive team and improving on the offense, and I think we’ve done that.”

Udoka did keep his team near the top five in both categories. During the regular season, Houston had a defensive rating of 112.1, which ranked sixth in the league, and an offensive rating of 117.5, which ranked eighth in the NBA.

The Lakers finished with offensive and defensive ratings of 117.0 (10th) and 115.5 (20th), respectively. While that defensive rating for LA is discouraging and perhaps an indicator that they are not at the level needed to win, they did improve as the season went along.

Post All-Star break, their defensive rating was 113.4, good for 14th in the league. That’s still not ideal as a top-10 defense seems to be the standard for a Conference Finals appearance, but it’s progress.

For the Lakers to have postseason success, they’ll need to figure out how to elevate their play in both categories. And there are subcategories they need to improve on that will help them find success. Redick has mentioned wanting to improve their rebounding and turnovers in their series against Houston.

Based on how the 2020s have gone so far, it seems a top-10 offense is more likely to get you deep in the playoffs, but an elite defense is necessary to win it all.

So, the answer to what matters more between defense and offense is still a combination of both.

“I grew up in San Antonio, believing in and knowing that defense wins championships,” Pelicans head coach James Borrego said. “We always hung our hat on that end of the floor and I still believe that.

“But I think it’s a balance of both, and really leaning into the strength of your roster is where you need to lean. Every roster is built differently. Some’s a little bit more offensive. Some’s a little bit more defensive. To me, the best teams maximize the roster, though. They lean into the strength of their players and how they play together.”

If there is one thing Redick has done well, it is maximizing his team’s potential. He’s had back-to-back 50-win seasons with very different rosters and with major shake-ups midseason.

In the playoffs, with Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves out indefinitely, he has to figure out how to balance both and get offensive production without his starting backcourt and come up with a defensive plan to stop Kevin Durant, who is one of the best scorers the league has ever seen.

It won’t be easy, but to have a long postseason run, the Lakers will have to find new solutions offensively and come up with enough defensive stops to make a run.

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Do the Lakers have any chance of surviving without Luka and Austin?

We grinded through 82 games and the playoffs are finally here. The fun should start, but for the Lakers the party was spoiled before it even began. Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves both open the series on the injury list, each doing everything possible to find a way back at some point.

Their absence changes everything. With the team’s two primary scorers out and no clear timeline for their return, this becomes a much different exercise than a typical series preview.

So this one focuses on the first phase of the matchup. What do Dončić- and Reaves-less Lakers look like against the Rockets, and do they have any realistic path to surviving early in the series?

And if things shift, we adjust. If either of the two stars makes it back, we pivot into a more traditional, game-by-game preview approach as the series evolves.

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Today’s highlights:

Can the stretched-out first round format help the Lakers?

Will this series be another warning sign for the Lakers to adapt their team-building vision?

Who wins the key matchup of veteran superstars?

Which coach can extend his short rotation?

Key Lakers challenge: size and rebounding

Key Lakers question: can the Lakers play Luke Kennard heavy minutes? (VIDEO)

Key Lakers tactic on offense: attack Sengun and Sheppard (VIDEO)

Key Rockets challenge: shooting and decision making

Key Lakers tactic on defense: blitzing Durant (VIDEO)

Is it time for irrational confidence?

1-Can the stretched-out first round format help the Lakers?

OK, I said I’ll approach this preview as if there’s no Dončić and no Reaves, but the real storyline hanging over everything is their race against time. That’s the question we’ll all be tracking throughout the series: can either of them make it back at any point?

The schedule at least gives the Lakers a small window of hope. With two days off before Games 2, 3, and 5, there is a bit more time for recovery, not just for Dončić and Reaves, but also for LeBron James, who at 41 will have to carry a massive load until they do. Those extra days matter.

And when you map it out, the timeline becomes interesting. Game 3 lands roughly three weeks after the April 2 injuries in Oklahoma City. Game 5 pushes that to four weeks. If the series goes the distance, Game 7 would come with close to a full month of recovery. That’s the window the Lakers are hoping can keep this series alive long enough to change it.

JJ Redick said Dončić and Reaves are out indefinitely and that there will be no further updates this week. But with Dončić scheduled to return from treatment in Spain to the U.S. tomorrow, the speculation and timeline watch will only intensify.

As for whether Dončić, in particular, should even push for a return, I’d go back to the point I made right after the injury. Everything the Lakers have done since trading for him has been about the long term, not chasing short-term success this season. So unless he is fully healed and truly 100% ready, it’s hard to see the logic changing with their most important piece and risking anything ahead of a crucial offseason.

2-Will this series be another warning sign for the Lakers to adapt their team-building vision?

Before getting into the tactical matchups and series-specific questions, it’s worth zooming out to the bigger picture that this season, and potentially this series, might be pointing toward. Those of you who followed my NBA Trends series heading into last year’s playoffs will remember the idea of a new era defined by speed, athleticism, and aggressiveness.

This past regular season only reinforced that direction, with two young teams that fully embraced it, the Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs, storming through the league and breaking the 60-win mark. The Trail Blazers–Suns play-in matchup was another example of two aggressive teams going at it, with Portland, the winner, setting the tone with their on-ball pressure already earlier in the season.

As for the Lakers themselves, their playoff bracket has unfolded in a way that puts them on a direct collision course with two teams that embody this new, hyper-aggressive NBA. First, the Rockets, and if they somehow make it through, the gold standard of this new wave, the Oklahoma City Thunder, waiting in the second round.

Lack of athleticism, speed, and aggressiveness were the main vulnerabilities of the Lakers all season, which they offset with elite on-ball creation and shot-making. Now that those advantages are mostly gone, we’ll see if they can adapt, or if the playoffs will serve as another warning for the front office when it comes to priorities for a huge offseason ahead.

3-Who wins the key matchup of veteran superstars?

Many factors decide a series, but having the best player on the floor is the baseline that makes everything else easier.

LeBron James and Kevin Durant will meet in the playoffs for the first time since the 2018 NBA Finals. They have played 14 playoff games against each other.

LeBron averages 31.9 PPG
Durant averages 31.7 PPG

They are the only duo in NBA history to meet in 10 or more

LeBron James will likely need to have a high-level shot-making series for the Lakers to stand a chance, and because of the defensive options Ime Udoka can throw at him, his job will be much harder than that of his counterpart Kevin Durant on the other end. Durant was the primary defender on James for the vast majority of possessions in the three regular season matchups, largely because Amen Thompson and Tari Eason were chasing Dončić and Reaves around the perimeter. Now, James will have to deal with much tougher defensive assignments.

Of course, the Lakers will do everything possible to manipulate matchups (more on that later) to get James attacking weaker defenders, but it will be difficult for him to rely solely on his bully-ball game in the paint against one of the biggest teams in the league. His outside shot has been inconsistent for most of the season, but the Lakers will need him to deliver the kind of shot-making we saw in recent regular-season games, albeit against much tougher resistance than what the Rockets will provide.

4-Which coach can extend his short rotation?

This will be a matchup of two coaches who like to play their best players heavy minutes and tend to shorten their rotations in the playoffs. Over their last 15 games of the regular season, Udoka played his four key rotation pieces, Thompson, Smith Jr., Durant, and Sengun 33 minutes per game or more, with Thompson averaging 39.

Tari Eason and Reed Sheppard round out the six-man core Udoka trusts and leans on for most of the minutes, with Josh Okogie, Aaron Holiday, and Clint Capela filling smaller, situational roles. In last year’s seven-game first-round series against the Warriors, Udoka settled into a short eight-man rotation after Game 3.

We all remember how short JJ Redick’s rotation was against the Timberwolves, with him basically trusting just six players. With Dončić and Reaves out, the initial seven this year seem to be LeBron, Smart, Hachimura, Ayton, Kennard, LaRavia, and Hayes. But winning the physical and hustle battle with only seven players against a team like the Rockets is a very tough ask.

Can any of Vanderbilt, Kleber, Bronny James, or Nick Smith Jr. provide anything off the bench? Redick highlighted that it will be all hands on deck and pointed to his trust in both Bronny and Smith Jr., but I remain more skeptical. Vanderbilt or Kleber making any kind of impact with hustle and defense to match the Rockets’ size is one of the breaks the Lakers might need to go their way.

5-Key Lakers challenge: size and rebounding

The Rockets dominated the glass in the three regular-season matchups, posting a massive 44.1% offensive rebounding rate against the Lakers. Even without Steven Adams, they remain the best offensive rebounding team in the league, which is why boxing out and rebounding drills have been a major focus of preparation for Redick and his group. However, no matter the drills, the Lakers will have a tough time overcoming their size and personnel issues. Starting two guards in Smart and Kennard against a Rockets lineup with no player shorter than the 6’7” athletic freak Thompson could be a real problem. Hachimura is a below-average rebounder for his position, and asking him and Ayton to battle on the boards for 30-plus minutes will be a big ask.

Last year’s series against the Timberwolves, when the Lakers ran out of gas after battling an uphill fight against a much bigger opponent, was a hard lesson and a clear warning. The size disadvantage is why playing undersized guards like Bronny and Smith Jr. could be problematic, and why lineups featuring Vanderbilt or Kleber might make more sense.

6-Key Lakers question: can the Lakers play Luke Kennard heavy minutes? (VIDEO)

Luke Kennard was a great pickup and a real post-deadline success story for the Lakers, but I have a feeling this might be a tough series for him. That’s especially true in the high-minute, secondary playmaking role the Lakers have used him in and now need from him without their two primary ball-handling options.

I mentioned rebounding, and Thompson and Eason attack smaller guard units, like the Lakers with Kennard and Smart (or Reaves in prior games), or the Suns with Booker and Gillespie, almost like it’s a personal vendetta.

Kennard’s lack of athleticism just seems like a tough matchup against Thompson or Eason on both ends. I expect one of them to pick him up, apply full-court pressure, and make his two-man actions with LeBron less effective, since the Rockets can simply switch those actions. Kennard, as great as his shooting has been, is also the epitome of the Lakers’ broader athleticism deficit that I pointed out in the second section.

7-Key Lakers tactic on offense: attack Sengun and Sheppard (VIDEO)

I mentioned that Udoka fully trusts six players, and the Rockets’ issue is that two of them, Sengun and Sheppard, are defensive liabilities the Lakers have already targeted aggressively. Sheppard was hunted in the first game of the March two-game series, and Sengun in the second.

Without Dončić, who was the main hunter in those two games, this will be more difficult to pull off, but I’m sure the Lakers’ key tactic will be putting LeBron in positions to try to exploit either of those two weak links. Empty screen actions with a guard—Smart and Reaves for most of the season, and Kennard in recent games—were the preferred way to do that. As mentioned, I expect Udoka to put his better wing defenders on Kennard and Smart so they can switch, while trying to hide Sheppard on less reliable decision-makers like LaRavia, or maybe even Hachimura.

Sengun can be a bit more difficult to hide, but if LeBron can expose him in drop, either by knocking down mid-range jumpers or feeding Ayton with pocket and skip passes.

You could see a similar tactic, with the Rockets putting a wing on Ayton and hiding Sengun on a lesser threat would allow the Rockets to switch more freely and force James to beat them one-on-one. Benching Sengun and going to an all-wing lineup with no obvious weak spots is the ultimate defensive ace Udoka can pull to get stops.

8-Key Rockets challenge: shooting and decision making

Reading this so far, you’ve probably come to the conclusion that I’m not very high on the Lakers’ chances, and that’s mostly true. The talent disparity, along with the size and athleticism gap, seems too big for the Lakers to overcome. The reason I still think they have a chance is the Rockets’ often questionable decision-making and their tendency to self-destruct, especially down the stretch. They are heavy favorites, and the pressure will be on them to close this series out quickly. If the Lakers can keep games close into the final minutes, the Rockets’ clutch issues could resurface. The Rockets were 22–23 in clutch games this season and ranked third worst in the NBA with a -4.1 win differential, meaning they lost significantly more games than their point differential would suggest.

Sheppard is their only true point guard, with Aaron Holiday playing a minor role off the bench, and they often run units without a traditional ball-handler or organizer. Sheppard and Thompson are the only two main rotation players who average more than 2.5 dribbles per touch, and neither is a proven decision-maker. The Rockets finished the season with the third-worst turnover rate in the league, and the Lakers will need to win the turnover battle if they want to somehow mitigate the rebounding and possession gap.

The other question mark for the Rockets is shooting. Thompson is a non-shooter outside the paint, and Sengun is not a reliable threat from three either. Eason, who opened the season on fire from deep, shooting 46% before the All-Star break, fell off a cliff to just 22% afterward. Those struggles even led Udoka to bench him, starting either Sheppard or Josh Okogie in recent games instead. The same happened with Dorian Finney-Smith’s shooting, and he fell out of the rotation entirely. Redick and the Lakers have shown they can put together solid defensive plans when opponents have weak links to expose and help off, which is another reason for some modest optimism.

For the Lakers to extend this series beyond five games, they’ll need an edge in shooting, which is why keeping Kennard on the floor, alongside another key threat in Hachimura, will be a crucial tactical battle. If Eason’s and others’ shooting struggles carry over into the playoffs, Udoka may have to rely more on Sheppard and Holiday, which would make life on offense much easier for LeBron and Kennard.

9-Key Lakers tactic on defense: blitzing Durant (VIDEO)

The Lakers successfully exposed the Rockets’ decision-making and shooting issues by aggressively blitzing Durant in their two previous matchups. They managed to frustrate him, forcing long stretches without shots or points, along with several turnovers.

The playoffs are where tactical surprises usually show up, as teams scout and prepare extensively for counters and counter-adjustments. But in this case, I don’t think Redick has many real alternatives to the blitzing approach. They can tweak when and from where they send the double teams, but it’s hard to see a path to containing Durant without it. Smart doesn’t have the size to truly bother him, and the other options, LaRavia and Hachimura, aren’t defenders you feel comfortable trusting against one of the best isolation scorers in the game.

Another argument for continuing to blitz and scramble is one I’ve highlighted throughout the season. It’s the best way to maximize the defensive playmaking of Smart, LaRavia, and Vanderbilt, much more than relying on individual one-on-one containment. Again, the Lakers’ best chance is for the Rockets to shoot themselves in the foot, and it could start by knocking Durant out of his comfort zone and exposing the decision-making and trust issues that have been a theme of their season, including the KD burner saga.

A lot of the Rockets’ clutch issues came from not clearly knowing who to play through in key moments, Durant or Sengun, while the Lakers won’t have that same uncertainty. The ball will be in LeBron’s hands, and they’ll need him to defy age once again and be the best primary option in the series, going up against opponents nearly 20 years younger.

10-Is it time for irrational confidence?

The rational view says the Lakers don’t have much of a chance, and this could be over quickly. Without Dončić and Reaves, it’s hard to see how they generate consistent offense. The size and athleticism gap also feels too big to overcome. The Lakers have been a finesse team all season, but now they’ll have to win a fight in the trenches against a team that thrives there.

However, hope, irrational confidence, is why we watch sports. Sometimes the underdog surprises the favorite. Maybe the Lakers get a couple of lucky bounces and steal a game or two early. Maybe they get good news and reinforcements arrive faster than expected. Neither is very likely, but not impossible.

What this team has shown all season is that no matter who is on the floor, they’ll keep fighting as long as they have a chance. And that should be a good enough reason to look forward to Game 1 on Saturday.

One of key questions in my Lakers-Rockets preview is can Lakers play Luke Kennard heavy minutes?I have a feeling this might be a tough series for him, but cant see how Lakers not play him in 30 minutes range. Even with Bronny at 8 min as 9th man, I get to 30 in my projection https://t.co/mL3T2Dv1wV pic.twitter.com/119UbAgV82— Iztok Franko (@iztok_franko) April 17, 2026

I am grateful to the NBPA for advocating on my behalf and to the NBA for their fair decision. It was so important to me to be present for the birth of my daughter in December and I appreciate Mark, Jeanie, Rob, JJ, and the entire Lakers organization for fully supporting me and…— Luka Doncic (@lukadoncic) April 16, 2026

And Lakers would like LeBron to return next season but it has to be at a reduced salary so team can build a championship roster.

Brian Windhorst on LeBron future with the Lakers:“I have specifically spoken to people on both sides of the negotiation of ‘what do you think his value is in the 2026-27 NBA season. Knowing there’s no team out there with cap space that are going to say ‘here’s $35M to play for… pic.twitter.com/0BFZA1jKMJ— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) April 16, 2026

LAKERS CEIILING IS LIKELY BEATINGROCKETS & TAKING OKC TO 6 GAMES!If Lakers can beat Rockets, that would be a dramatic improvement over last playoffs. Would love to see us beat the Thunder in a 7-game series but that is probably still a pipe dream. I’d be satisfied with… https://t.co/PyX9z7wMAD— LakerTom (@LakerTom) April 16, 2026

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Luka, Reaves and the 48 hours that changed the Lakers’ season

THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS’ late-season surge didn’t just lift the team’s position in the standings. It transformed their hierarchy and buoyed their belief.

For more than a month — 33 days, to be precise — from the end of February until the beginning of April, the Lakers were one of the hottest teams in basketball, seemingly building momentum for a long postseason run.

The injuries that had plagued the roster from the start of training camp had resolved. The roles for the Lakers’ three stars in Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves had found harmony. And the results had been dominant.

From Feb. 28 to April 1, the Lakers went 16-2. Their offense, which had ranked No. 11 through their first 58 games of the season, jumped up to No. 4. Their defense, which had ranked 24th, was a suddenly reliable ninth.

Even though the Lakers were 10 games above .500 before the streak began, there were legitimate criticisms of how sustainable their performance had been up to that point — and their improved play quelled even those concerns.

Suddenly the team that couldn’t shoot went from No. 19 to No. 8 in 3-point percentage. The team that didn’t have the requisite athletes to get back in transition went from No. 13 in opponent’s fast-break points to No. 8. And the team that always lost to good teams counted the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets, Cleveland Cavaliers and the Houston Rockets (twice) among their conquests.

After a 127-113 win over Cleveland on March 31, during which the Lakers outscored the Cavs 78-49 in the second and third quarters to avenge a 30-point loss from earlier in the season, Doncic was asked about the season’s turnaround.

“The run we’ve been on,” Doncic said, “it means a lot. We got to just keep playing.”

Then, 48 hours later, everything changed.

…

A TORNADO WATCH and storm that flashed lightning bolts across the sky and poured more than an inch of rain on Oklahoma City foreshadowed the Lakers’ game against the Thunder on April 2.

It was the first time L.A. had faced the defending champion since Nov. 12, when the Thunder romped 121-92.

In that game, the Lakers were missing James, who was out because of a sciatica injury that kept him out the first month of the season, and the Thunder was without Jalen Williams, who was recovering from offseason wrist surgery.

Five months later, this game was supposed to be different, with both teams at full strength and the Thunder just as hot as L.A., having won 15 of their past 16 games.

It was supposed to be a chance for the Lakers to validate their ascent, and to spotlight the individual showdown between Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, with MVP votes potentially on the line.

Instead, what was supposed to be a spectacle between two of the NBA’s best teams quickly devolved into something else: a slaughter.

The Thunder went up 18-4 in the first few minutes and led 82-51 by halftime. Reaves tweaked his left side going up for a long rebound in the first quarter but stayed in the game.

The second half was even worse for the Lakers, with Doncic leaving the game midway through the third quarter after clutching his left hamstring and collapsing to the court in pain.

After the game, the Lakers were already preparing mentally to be without Doncic for a period of time, sources told ESPN. His left hamstring had previously sidelined him for four games leading into the All-Star break, and it’s the type of injury with a high risk of reoccurrence.

An MRI was scheduled for the next day in Dallas. It revealed a Grade 2 strain.

It was a blow, to be sure, but not a knockout.

The Lakers were still No. 3 in the West with five regular-season games remaining — and two of those opponents, the Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz, were focused on their draft lottery odds, not necessarily on winning.

Reaves’ left side was still bothering him, so the team also scheduled an MRI for him. Initially, they thought he might sit out only a game or two and be back before the regular season was over, team sources told ESPN.

In the meantime, there was disappointment within the team that Marcus Smart was unable to return from a right ankle injury to help with the ballhandling responsibilities, team sources told ESPN.

When the Lakers met for practice at Southern Methodist University the day before the Mavs game, the team acknowledged that the pathway for a lengthy postseason run had narrowed. Still, there was internal belief that it was navigable.

Redick said he would increase the offensive touches for center Deandre Ayton and forward Rui Hachimura — music to their ears after pining for shots all season.

Redick met with Luke Kennard, acquired for his shooting in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks at the deadline, about the need for him to play on-ball in the interim.

“We walked through some stuff and I was in some different positions,” Kennard told ESPN. “They were preparing me for what was about to happen.”

James, for his part, was unfazed by what it would mean for him personally, sources close to him said, because even if he had willingly filled in as the third option behind Doncic and Reaves during L.A.’s winning streak, he never felt as if he needed to do so because of any drop-off in his game. It was just what the team needed at that time.

“Our job, the rest of these guys and my staff, we’re going after the No. 3 seed and we’re going to try to win a playoff series,” Redick said after practice on April 4. “And we’ll see what happens with Luka.”

A couple of hours later, after practice had ended, the team received the results of Reaves’ second MRI after the first was inconclusive: he had sustained a Grade 2 oblique strain and would also be out for four to six weeks, sources told ESPN.

Suddenly, that narrow path felt as if it were closing entirely.

“[After the Reaves news] it’s almost like JJ was like, ‘Do I need to readdress this again with the team now?'” one team source told ESPN.

…

THE NEXT DAY, the news from the previous two showed itself on the American Airlines court.

L.A. fell behind by as many as 22 points against the Mavs and lost 134-128, despite Dallas having lost eight of its past nine games.

James was brilliant, scoring 30 points on 12-for-22 shooting, with 15 assists and nine rebounds. Hachimura had 13 field goal attempts, his most in months, and made nine of them. Kennard, while only shooting 5-for-17, had his first career triple-double with 15 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists.

But the defensive fight the team had talked about at SMU, the attitude that had progressed so much over the course of the season, was dormant, multiple Lakers sources told ESPN. And Dallas, despite little incentive to do so, dominated, with no love lost between the franchises since the fallout from the Doncic trade.

Two days later, the Lakers played the Thunder again, this time in Los Angeles. And again, it was ugly.

Redick benched Hachimura a couple of minutes after tipoff and then called timeout to pull Jarred Vanderbilt just 16 seconds into the second quarter, leading to a heated exchange between the two, with Reaves and Lakers assistant coach Nate McMillan stepping in to keep it from escalating.

L.A. trailed by seven at the time of the Vanderbilt spat; the Thunder pushed that lead above 40 in the second half. The loss dropped the Lakers to 0-2 since the injuries, and the Nuggets moved up to No. 3 in the West, putting L.A. in danger of losing home-court advantage in the first round if it kept falling, with a back-to-back set looming against Golden State and Phoenix.

Before the game against the Warriors, the Lakers gathered for a team meeting in their hotel in San Francisco.

Redick began with an admission — that he’d overlooked the emotional toll of the game in Oklahoma City.

“It was important to just address the situation and talk through the situation,” he said. “And [acknowledge] the belief level with our group during that six-week stretch. Now we’ve got to figure out how to get this group — and that’s players, coaches, that’s all of us — to believe at a high level again.”

Added a team source: “I think it was a bigger shock to the system than we acknowledged.”

James’ demeanor during the team’s preparation for the Warriors also was noted.

“Just leading the group in the walkthrough, taking it serious and trying to come out and get a win in Golden State, it just kind of reset a tone of like, ‘Hey guys, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but let’s be committed to each other,” a source at the meeting told ESPN. “‘Let’s be committed to the process.'”

Then they did.

…

THE LAKERS BEAT the Warriors 119-103 on April 9. Then they spanked the Suns 101-73 the next night. And they closed out the regular season with a 131-107 win over Utah last Sunday.

Their 3-0 final flourish earned them a 53-29 record — three more wins than they had last season.

James was named Western Conference Player of the Week, after averaging 24.0 points, 9.7 assists and 6.0 rebounds after Doncic and Reaves went down.

And remarkably, from April 3-12, the Lakers actually improved in several areas from where they ranked during their hot streak. Their defense stiffened even more and their team 3-point percentage increased from 37.6% to 41.2%.

The Lakers, at least for now, have stabilized.

They will open their first-round series as the Western Conference’s No. 4 seed, hosting the No. 5-seeded Houston Rockets in Game 1 on Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC).

And as they prepare for it, sources told ESPN they have no expectation of having either Doncic or Reaves back at any point in the first round. But they also have not completely ruled out the possibility of one or both of them becoming available the longer the series lasts.

“We have been on hikes all season long, gotten lost in the woods and nobody thinks we’re going to be rescued,” Redick said. “And we find a path and we get back to the meadow and find civilization, and we’re going to be OK. That’s what our group is. I think we’ve all just embraced that, and we just have to find it now with this group.”

Those extra days will not only be a great help to LeBron James but will also stretch out the first round series to give Luka and Austin more time to recover and hopefully join the Lakers late in the first or early in the second round.— LakerTom (@LakerTom) April 15, 2026

Could be a huge thing if Luka can come back for game 6 or 7. Still think he won’t be back until mid 2nd round, at best, but we’ll see. Reaves is another question, I think it’s as much about what he can tolerate and play effectively with so

3 days between games is what the Doctor ordered. That’s a good chance for the team to manage things while Luka and Reaves recover.