❗️ OFICIAL: Marcus Smart al quinteto titular contra los Phoneix Suns esta noche. PG – Luka DoncicSG – Marcus SmartSF – Rui HachimuraPF – Lebron JamesC – Deandre Ayton👉🏽 Solo falta que salga Hachimura y se completa la profecía.— El "Sr Laker" 🟣🟡 (@RyanNBA_) December 15, 2025

Lakers vs Suns starters pic.twitter.com/NcBgNps0Vd— Trevor Lane (@TrevorLane) December 15, 2025

This game is on JJ. He needs to make adjustments.

If we’re using the Suns (playing without Booker) as a measuring stick then we’re in bigger trouble than I thought. After watching OKC/SA last night, I think we might be the 5th best team in the West right now. These other squads are just too young, too quick, too deep, & too athletic. I guess our peers really are the Suns & Wolves at this point…..

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

The Los Angeles Lakers want to upgrade their roster before the Feb. 5 trade deadline, but their only path to making the perfect deal is giving up all their remaining assets. They have no plans of trading Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, or LeBron James, but LA has a massive hole to fill. The Lakers need more athleticism after the deficit was on full display. There is only one path to filling the hole.

Rob Pelinka can trade one first-round draft pick, a couple of first-round pick swaps, Dalton Knecht, Adou Theiro, and expiring contracts to match salary. New owner Mark Walter could flex his powers in his first trade deadline. The Lakers will be in on any 3-and-D wing, but stealing an elite one won’t be easy.

Nobody thought Los Angeles would trade for Luka Doncic. Pelinka even kept Austin Reaves and one tradeable first-round draft pick out of the deal. The Mavericks got Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and just one first-round selection for one of the top four players in the world. Pelinka is clearly a wizard, but there is only one path to pulling off another heist.

Lakers must go all-in to make another Luka Doncic-level heist

LA has their sights set on title contention. They have already outperformed expectations and have three stars leading their roster. The Lakers have to be all-in. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves are in their primes. LeBron James turns 41 years old at the end of December. There is no time to wait.

The Lakers have been linked to names like Herb Jones, but the current Pelicans forward is one of the best defenders in the NBA. Getting him out of New Orleans would take plenty of convincing, including selling the Pels that Dalton Knecht and Adou Theiro are future pieces to build around.

Getting anyone in consideration for the All-Defensive teams for one first-round draft pick and expiring contracts would be a heist, but that is exactly what Pelinka and the Lakers front office have to pull off if they want to have a serious shot to knock off the Thunder, Nuggets, or Rockets in the playoffs.

Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, Maxi Kleber, and Jaxson Hayes give the Lakers $44.2 million in expiring salaries to trade. They would love to keep Hachimura for his shot-making, but a 2031 or 2032 first-round draft pick doesn’t have unlimited value. Teams will want Rui involved to flip for more draft picks.

Pelinka has executed two masterful trade deadlines since 2023. He landed Luka Doncic out of nowhere in 2025 and sent Russell Westbrook packing in a series of trades that led LA to the 2023 conference finals. Does he have another ace up his sleeve? Fans certainly hope so.

The Los Angeles Lakers’ path to another Luka Doncic-level trade deadline heist is to be willing to include all their expiring contracts, young players, and tradeable draft capital. It could be just enough to acquire the difference-maker Los Angeles needs for a deep playoff run. Now, it is on Pelinka and the front office to go find the right deal. History suggests the Lakers just might do it.

Did somebody secretly hire Nico Harrison to run their team?

The Lakers have had a couple of days to recover and regroup after a very disappointing showing in the NBA Cup quarterfinals against the San Antonio Spurs.

That loss didn’t introduce anything new. It exposed the same patterns and the same defensive flaws we’ve seen before — including in the previous matchup against the Phoenix Suns, who the Lakers face again tonight.

So instead of a regular, structured game preview, this piece looks at what the Lakers can actually adjust. Specifically, the defensive issues that keep resurfacing, and the lineup or tactical changes that might help plug some of those holes.

Defense isn’t the only nut the Lakers need to crack. Both the Spurs and the Suns went with a similar approach, letting Luka score in two on two situations while focusing on limiting his playmaking. In the rematch, the Lakers will need to readjust.

That task becomes even more difficult without Austin Reaves, who will be out for at least a week while dealing with a calf strain.

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Today’s highlights:

Starting five and rotation imbalance

Should Hachimura’s minutes depend on the matchup and the opponent’s defensive plan? (VIDEO)

Creating advantages out of the post (VIDEO)

Small ball as a tweak for more banshees and more Rui touches (VIDEO)

1-Starting five and rotation imbalance

After the last practice, JJ Redick said the Lakers have completely lost their defensive fundamentals over the last ten games. Over that stretch, they rank as the fourth worst defense in the league. One of the biggest talking points all season has been the imbalance of the starting group, especially when it comes to skill and finesse versus defense and physicality.

The fit of Deandre Ayton and Rui Hachimura, two excellent finishers but not high motor defensive tone setters, is something I’ve already written about in both my 10 and 20 game checks. When you add LeBron James still working his way back from injury, plus Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, the result is one of the least aggressive starting units in the league at a time when leaning into physicality and force is a clear, established trend.

In the short term, replacing Reaves with Smart should shift that imbalance a bit, but the long term challenge will persist. Last season, Redick took pride in the team’s banshee spirit, but yesterday he admitted the Lakers simply haven’t been banshees this season. And while I agree that each player individually stepping up his effort and physicality can help, for the team to re-acquire the play hard tag they had last season, Redick will have to adjust his rotation and unleash the banshees.

Since the Lakers got healthy and since James returned to the lineup, the minutes for players I would categorize as banshees (Smart, Vanderbilt, LaRavia, Vincent, Thiero, and Kleber) have been cut roughly in half compared to earlier in the season, dropping to just 15 to 25 percent of total minutes.

And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this is also the period when the defense started to struggle. Smart missing six games during this stretch was a big hit, but Jarred Vanderbilt’s and Jake LaRavia’s minutes were also reduced compared to the first part of the season.

2-Should Hachimura’s minutes depend on the matchup and the opponent’s defensive plan? (VIDEO)

On my recent podcast chat with Jovan Buha, I mentioned that reducing Ayton’s and Hachimura’s minutes in favor of the banshees is one way to adjust the imbalance. Hachimura is averaging 33 minutes per game, and while his shooting is a crucial component that provides space for Dončić, Reaves, and James to operate on offense, there have been recent games, most notably the matchups against the Suns and the Spurs, where his role and shot diet were diminished by the way Dončić pick actions were defended.

In my 20 game check, I wrote about teams cycling between more conservative coverages like drop and more aggressive hedging or blitzing. Before the Suns game, the latter was on the rise. Then the Suns and Spurs leaned into a scheme with a long center (Mark Williams and Luke Kornet) in drop, forcing Dončić to score in two on two situations rather than trapping and allowing the Lakers to play advantage four on three basketball.

Without doubles or scrambling defenses, there were far fewer touches for Hachimura. He had just one shot attempt and went scoreless against the Suns, then scored seven points on four shots against the Spurs, posting season lows of three and eight frontcourt touches in those two games.

Ayton’s and Hachimura’s touches have been on the decline since James returned, so re-adjusting the rotation for more balance and playing both less alongside all three high usage, high touch starters is worth a try, especially against the recent tactics the Suns and Spurs applied. Defenses might stunt even more aggressively if Jake LaRavia is in the corner instead of Hachimura, but I don’t think it would drastically change the scheme.

3-Creating advantages out of the post (VIDEO)

Even if Ayton’s and Hachimura’s minutes are reduced, the Lakers still need to find ways to utilize them, especially Hachimura, even when the opponent’s strategy is forcing Dončić into a high usage scorer rather than a playmaker.

One way to do that is to feature Dončić and James in the post more, rather than spam countless pick and stack actions, because in that scenario not sending a double and defending one on one becomes a much riskier proposition. You could see the Spurs choosing to shift help from Hachimura on the weakside rather than from Reaves or Dončić, who were one and two passes away.

4-Small ball as a tweak for more banshees and more Rui touches (VIDEO)

Another way to get more minutes for the banshees is to lean more into small ball, centerless lineups like the Lakers used last season. I’m not suggesting going all in on small ball, which eventually doomed them in the playoffs, but using it as a change of pace option that could open up more minutes for players like LaRavia and Vanderbilt.

Small ball is also a way to utilize Hachimura more as a screener and a pick-and-pop option.

We’ve seen that when Smart or Vanderbilt are in small ball lineups, and sometimes even in regular lineups with Ayton or Hayes on the floor, they are the players opponents choose to guard with their big man. That forces them to become the screening partner for Dončić instead of Hachimura. This setup isn’t ideal, especially with Vanderbilt or Smart catching the ball as the decision maker, but it still creates advantages and forces four on three basketball.

Another way to utilize Smart or Vanderbilt is by using them as the second back screener in stack actions, as shown below, or by having them set corner screens, flare screens, or pin in actions.

Regardless of what the Lakers do, the recent defensive breakdowns suggest it’s probably time to reshuffle the rotation and lineups and find ways to get the banshees more involved. We’ll see some of that tonight because Reaves’ 37 minutes will have to be redistributed, but the Lakers likely need a more significant, long-term change of course if they want to meaningfully improve their defense.

The defense will temporarily improve just by not having Reaves on the floor for teams to pick on.

Lakers’ Big Three Is Not Working! Should Someone Come Off Bench?The problem with building a championship starting starting lineup around the Lakers’ offense-first Big Three is the other two starters need to be an alpha point-of-attack defender and elite shot-blocking defensive… pic.twitter.com/1wpDCBASbk— LakerTom (@LakerTom) December 14, 2025

The site? Yeah, I’ve noticed it’s really wonky on Chrome these days…

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Ayton has historically disappeared in big moments.

Despite some obvious deficiencies in the departments of speed and athleticism, the Los Angeles Lakers have gotten off to a fast start this season. They’ve risen to near the top of the Western Conference standings. Now, ironically, one of their biggest problems moving forward could be Deandre Ayton.

It’s not that Ayton has some sort of glaring problem right now. But that’s just it: Lakers fans have reached a point where they have a reasonable amount of trust in him right now. And unfortunately, Deandre has a history of disappearing in big moments. The thought that they might be getting set up for disappointment has to be the biggest fear for the Lakers right now.

One reason this concern has surfaced is the way the Lakers are being constructed offensively. They have leaned heavily on ball movement early in games, using Luka Doncic’s creation and Austin Reaves’s off-ball movement to generate looks. That has worked well in the regular season so far.

But when the game gets tight and defenses switch everything, teams look to exploit interior rotations. Ayton’s scoring has been solid, but his presence in the final minutes is not always a given, and that uncertainty can make opposing defenses more comfortable taking away perimeter options instead.

Lakers need more certainty from Deandre Ayton

Another factor that complicates Ayton’s role is the Lakers’ overall lack of elite athleticism on the wing. Teams with more speed and length around their stars can hide a center who struggles with switching. Lakers fans have seen how quickly things can unravel when Ayton gets isolated on the perimeter or asked to guard switches that require quick lateral movement.

Of course, to be fair, Ayton has shown more consistency this season than many expected. He’s been reliable at setting screens, catching lobs, and finishing around the rim. But big moments often require more than just the simple things. They require someone who can create their own shot when possessions break down and who can defend a variety of players without hesitation. That level of versatility has not been Ayton’s calling card in the past.

The Lakers have benefited from depth and team defense this season, and that collective effort is what has kept them afloat when Ayton is not the best matchup. When bench guys have stepped up, the team has been able to absorb some of the mismatches Ayton might struggle with. But that strategy has limits, especially in the playoffs.

Ultimately, the Lakers need Ayton to be more than just an efficient big man. They need him to be someone opponents are forced to account for late in games. If the Lakers can find ways to mask his limitations, this season will continue to look promising. If not, fans may start to revisit those fears that have quietly lingered since his arrival.