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Lakers Fast Break- Lakers Preseason Warm Up With TJ Johnson!

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TJ Johnson stops by to share thoughts on the Lakers as they head out into a new season, what his concerns might be, and the belief if the team can repeat as champions. All this and more on another awesome Lakers Fast Break podcast!

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Lakers rotation projection: Starting Schröder and finding time for THT

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1. Will Dennis Schröder start?

Vogel has not committed either way, but the combination of Schröder’s bold statement that he plans on starting and some of Vogel’s comments in the first week of training camp has us leaning toward yes.

Last year, the Lakers got away with not having a true point guard in the starting lineup because Bradley was a good enough defender to hound opposing point guards for 94 feet. A starting lineup with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Wesley Matthews would closely resemble what the Bradley-less Lakers did in the bubble with KCP and Danny Green, but James should not be shouldering anywhere near the same kind of responsibility in this regular season that he did in last season’s title run. More playmaking next to him makes sense.

Besides, the Lakers see Schröder — who spent last year in a point-guard triangle with the Thunder and emerged as the runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year — as a capable off-ball threat, too. Take what Vogel had to say about Schröder playing alongside LeBron:

“That’s a huge part of this year’s plan, is to have Dennis out there with LeBron, relieving some of the pressure but also his ability to play off the ball. That’s what we love about him. They’re going to see heavy minutes throughout the course of the year this year.”

That suggests the Lakers will find ways to pair Schröder with James, but also keep him on the court when James rests.

…

2. How much center for A.D.?

At one point, Vogel highlighted the combination of Davis at center alongside Morris as the combination that “won us a championship last year.” So expect more of that.

Taking a step back, the Davis at center versus Davis at power forward debate has probably been a bit overblown. Davis has not resisted playing center when it has mattered, and the ability to go super-big was a hallmark of this team’s defensive identity a year ago. The Lakers will attempt to toe that same line again this season.

“We were very successful when I was at the five,” Davis said, “so maybe it’s something that we still kind of wait for the playoffs again, then over the course of the season kind of toy with it game by game.”