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.

Even the superstars have an off night. For the Lakers, this was the case for both Reaves and Luka as both players had an off night scoring the basketball. They did keep the ball moving and it was to their benefit because on a night that both Doncic and Reaves will quickly put behind them, their teammates stepped up. That’s why you trust in the team, the stronger the team, the easier the road.

1. Jake LaRavia finding his place. With the injuries, games missed and overall rotational chaos to kcik off the season it was kind of easy to overlook Jake’s arrival as a Laker. Luka’s extension and LeBron’s mood dominated headlines all summer long. So, while everyone acknowledged the signing was a positive one for thew Lakers, I don’t think anyone saw this level of potential impact. To put it plainly, Jake’s on a solid little 2 game tear right now. He’s hitting from three, he’s scoring at the rim, and you generally count on him to make the right play. He was 10-13 from the floor, 2-3 from three point land, and grabbed 8 boards. Jake’s role is largely undefined and his skill set fits that perfectly. Dude just plays hard and plays smart. That’s a solid combo and, while the league is filled with specialists, it’s worth noting that guys who, in Coach Reddick’s words “can just play”, are good at everything has it’s upside. I don’t expect Jake to score or have statistical impact high enough to be considered a sixth man of the year candidate, but he was the Lakers best player off the bench last night by a country mile.
2. Hayes stepped up. With Ayton a late scrub due to back spasms, Hayes showed he can be a pro and was ready to step in and fill the void. He even hit a 3! There’s a world Jaxson Hayes is a better defender, and I hope he becomes one in this world, but the lack of defensive timing and footwork is what’s holding him back more than anything else. He can pass well, has a decent handle for a big man, is athletic as the day is long and has a great attitude. He just fouls too much instead of properly contesting shots. I’ll add he almost never gets the benefit of the doubt from the whistle but that’s a reflection of how often he gets caught reaching and leaning.
3. Marcus Smart winning me over. I’ll admit, Marcus Smart was my least favorite pick-up of the summer. He looked over-the-hill and burnt out in Memphis (although that now looks like a culture issue as much as anything else which tracks) and he’s getting up there for a modern NBA guard. Marcus set the tone early and was a solid contributor throughout the game. Other than the tech he caught for taunting the Miami bench (which I actually didn’t mind much since it seemed like they were the one’s chirping), he was a force for good all game long.
4. Bronny’s great 4th quarter. With injuries to many key players, Dalton not being able to keep up with the pace the Heat played at (although he did make a three and is looking more like last season’s early version of DK4) it was Bronny James who was playing late into the 4th quarter and was a key contributor on defense. His stat line won’t jump off the page: 18 minutes, 1-4 , 0-2 from three with 2 assists and no turnovers. But his 3 steals were clutch, especially since 2 of them came during a stretch in the 4th when Miami was making a push. He passed up some open looks I’d just as soon see him take (one an open 3 and the other when he drove across the lane and nobody really picked him up…those are the shots you have to take when the defense gives them to you), but overall Bronny showed why his defense could be his calling card in his young NBA career.
5. Coach Reddick and his growth and regression. One of the things that irked me about Darvin ham was how slow to adjust he could be. Reddick was the same, last season, when it would take 2-3 games to make an adjustment to what were clearly tactics to take us out of our comfort zones as a team. Fast forward to last night and the pressure the Heat applied to our guards in the back court was easily released by having screeners in the backcourt, having a 3rd player come back for a pass ahead to break the pressure and it was very pleasing to me to see us quickly adapt to teams that want to switch up the coverage in the backcourt. We didn’t deal with Portland’s full court press well at all 4 games ago (a good test for that will be tonight) and since then we’ve see 2 teams try and emulate that pressure but the Lakers being a lot better prepared to counter it. That’s the primary function of the coaching staff: having the players prepared for unexpected scenarios. Where Reddick regressed was losing his shit on national TV…again…and stomping all over the court, yelling at his team on the sideline, and looking like an angry teenager. Dude. Learn the ways of the Zen Master, Mr. Phil Jackson, and take a page from his book of cool. I get it, Hayes wasn’t rotating properly and nobody picked up cutters for like 3 plays in a row on defense late in the game. Just do your job without the hysterics and the drama, nobody reacts well to that. If Jaxson Hayes came to the sideline screaming, yelling, flailing his arms like a bratty kid you’d send him to the locker room and rightly so. You really think grown men are going to take your tantrum well? If there’s major knock against Reddick is that it’s known fact that he will lose his cool. Whether it will cost us games or not is the question. Last night it did not.

Lakers Game Observations: Game 7 vs Heat https://t.co/rbXoB3Fykr— LakerTom (@LakerTom) November 3, 2025

Austin Reaves tonight:26 Points11 Assists 4 Rebounds 38 Minutes pic.twitter.com/xpLULcd2vL— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) November 3, 2025

Luka caps off Week 2 with a triple-double and Fantasy Player of the Night honors 👏 @YahooFantasy pic.twitter.com/Sz7rY7xHRE— NBA Fantasy (@NBAFantasy) November 3, 2025

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. That has increasingly become NBA teams’ mindset when it comes to chasing extra possessions and the potential costs of doing so.

Let’s back up a bit. With a bit more than a quarter of the season complete and most teams on mini-hiatus for the next 10 days while the NBA Cup plays out, it’s a good time to exhale and take a look at some league-wide trends.

One notable shift that stands out is that fouls and free-throw attempts have both sharply increased from a year ago. While this can change over the course of a season as both players and officials react to each other — most notably in the “no paint fouls” era in the second half of the 2023-24 season — I suspect this one is likely to stick around, because it’s driven by bigger stylistic changes that we’re seeing league-wide.

First, the data on fouls. League-wide free-throw attempts per field-goal attempt are up by 14.8 percent from a year ago; league-wide fouls per 100 possessions are up 13.4 percent. That comes in the wake of a flat half-decade-long trendline in the post-COVID-19 era:

The 2022-23 season stands out as something of an outlier, and 2023-24 was trending the same way before an abrupt reduction in fouls and free throws after the All-Star break. Still, even those seasons pale beside what we’ve seen in 2025-26. To have double-digit percent increases in foul rates in one season is a fairly extreme shift.

Pedants will note that pace is also up this year, which would affect personal fouls per game, but it’s only a 1.2 percent difference, and the foul rate has increased more than 10 times that amount. That isn’t the cause here.

What is? The first instinct is to blame the refs somehow, but that quickly leads to dead ends. I’ve been in a lot of arenas in the last month, and nobody is really talking about changes in the officiating this year. (As opposed to, say, March 2024, when everyone was talking about it). To my own eyes, I haven’t seen play types officiated differently than previous years. And anecdotally, post-game officiating rants have been an uncommon sight.

A more possible boogeyman would be the Oklahoma City Thunder, who nearly set a record for defensive efficiency last season while finishing 26th in opponent free-throw rate. The team that finished just behind them in the defensive stats, the Orlando Magic, was 29th in opponent free throws.

What those two teams mastered was “possession-ball,” something I wrote about earlier this year as teams have leaned into it more. Both Oklahoma City and Orlando forced heaps of turnovers and controlled the boards, limiting opponent field-goal attempts.

The flip-side of that is the Houston Rockets’ approach, which is to go nuts on the offensive glass and attempt to win the possession battle that way. This is basically a new paradigm in the league, replacing the previous 2010s orthodoxy of limiting rebounding attempts to avoid surrendering transition. This more aggressive approach has increased offensive rebound rates across the league. (Well, except in Milwaukee.)

Meanwhile, teams have also leaned into using ball pressure to generate more turnovers — again, I discussed this at length earlier in the season. That’s a direct response to both the ridiculous efficiency some modern offenses have achieved if they’re just allowed to play pop-a-shot … and, ironically, to the increased physicality allowed on the perimeter since the middle of the 2023-24 season.

Perhaps as a reaction to the success of teams like Thunder, Magic and Rockets, both offensive rebounds and turnovers are way up this year. The league-wide offensive rebound rate this season is 26.2 percent, and the league-wide turnover rate is 13.0 percent. The rebound rate has seen an 8 percent jump just in the last two years and an 18 percent jump from the league’s low ebb of a 22.2 percent rebound rate in 2020-21. Meanwhile, the turnover rate of 13 percent hasn’t been exceeded in the last decade and is a 7.4 percent jump from last season.

Some individual teams have been wild outliers: Oklahoma City and the Phoenix Suns are turning teams over on more than 15 percent of their possessions, while Houston has an unthinkable 38 percent offensive rebound rate.

So, back to our omelette: Possession-ball isn’t possible without fouls, and often fouls on both sides. Increasing offensive rebound attacks also increases the number of contested rebounds, which adds to the number of loose-ball fouls in both directions. One sight that’s been especially common, however, is a ref on the baseline blowing their whistle, raising both arms and then pointing their fingers at the floor, in an exaggerated “stays here” motion after the defense fouls an opposing offensive rebounder.

For instance: Just try uprooting Steven Adams without getting a whistle. Watch as Denver’s Bruce Brown leans in with his full body weight and two arms, doing his best Sisyphus impersonation to roll this human boulder out of the way:

This happens nearly every game with Adams, whose 25.4 percent offensive rebound rate leads the league among players with at least 300 minutes played; the dude is drawing fouls and earning free throws without even touching the ball.

Of course, that’s only part of it. Putbacks, as a shot type, also tend to generate a lot more shooting fouls than jumpers, putting even more pressure on the league-wide foul rate.

The same applies to a lesser extent with ball pressure. Not only does it increase the risk of fouls 50 feet from the basket (in theory, at least, although the league has been reluctant to call all but the most egregious hand-checks), it also increases the possibility of offensive fouls from frazzled dribblers.

Which takes us to the next question: Are foul rates about to escalate even more? It’s a copycat league, and the copying seems to be working. As much as teams such as the Rockets have rediscovered the value of crashing the glass to their offenses, many are seeing the foul-turnover tradeoff seems to favor the defense.

It’s not just the Thunder. The Detroit Pistons, for example, have the league’s third-best defense despite the worst opponent free-throw rate; they are third, however, in opponent turnover rate at 14.6 percent and second in offensive rebound rate at 31.5 percent. Phoenix has been less extreme, but it’s another surprise team that has benefited in a big way from owning the possssion war despite a high foul rate. (The Thunder, I will note, have dialed back the fouling quite a bit in 2025-26; they’re now just awesome at everything).

Again, we’ve seen the ebbs of flows of league-wide trends pivot before; the NBA could decide to call the game differently, or other factors we can’t even conceive of yet could convince teams to tilt their focus in a different direction. Nonetheless, the possessions-and-fouls shift is one of the most notable stylistic changes we’ve seen in the league this season. Now the question, for the last three quarters of the season, is whether the trend only accelerates from here.

MARCUS SMART TONIGHT 🧠 26 minutes 🧠 11 points 🧠 4 assists 🧠 3 stocks 🧠 +10 +/-CHAMPIONSHIP-LEVEL IMPACT 👏 pic.twitter.com/dlLxipwbsp— Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) November 3, 2025

Join us in wishing Jake LaRavia of the @Lakers a HAPPY 24th BIRTHDAY! pic.twitter.com/5U8qZvaF26— NBA (@NBA) November 3, 2025

Wire-to-wire dub for the #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/XoORI3xSiv— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) November 3, 2025

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.