No disrespect to the Lakers’ surprising 8–3 start to the season without LeBron and with Luka missing 4 and Austin 3 of the first 11 games but L.A. needs a better and deeper rotation if they want to win the championship.
With NBA teams across the board trying to duplicate the Thunder’s aggressive high-pressure point-of-attack defense, the level of physicality, number of injuries, and free throws taken have been unprecedented. NBA teams have traditionally built rosters with 8 to 9 legitimate rotation players but with injuries and load management ravaging lineups, teams should consider raising the ideal number of rotation players to 12.
Every night we’re seeing teams with 4 to 6 players on their injured list struggling to put together competitive starting lineups and rotations that make sense with back-of-the-bench reserves. Time to build-in insurance.
The problem with most teams is their roster is clogged by multiple players who are development projects or disappointments who don’t contribute and need to be traded or cut to make room for more rotation players.
Right now, because of Pelinka’s reluctance to make moves, the Lakers are one of the NBA teams with multiple valuable roster spots wasted upon development projects or players who are not what they need right now.
The Lakers currently only have 8 rotation players upon whom they can count: starters Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James, and Deandre Ayton plus Marcus Smart, Jake LaRavia, and Jaxson Hayes.
Gone are the days when teams only needed 8 or 9 rotation players. The game evolves, play gets rougher, schedules get tougher, pace gets faster. The Lakers need a better and deeper rotation to win the championship.
How Could Lakers Add Four More Rotation Players
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To add 4 rotation players to the 8 they already have, the Lakers need to pull off a blockbuster trade that not only nets them 2 rotation players but also opens up roster spots and cap space to add 2 more buyout rotation players.
We’ve already seen how important the buyout signings of Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart were for the Lakers this season. The Lakers need to pull off a consolidation trade that opens the door to repeating that success.
One of the unexpected benefits of the new CBA is the acceleration of the buyouts of overpaid veteran players and the prohibition of second apron teams like the Celtics, Timberwolves, and Suns from signing buyouts.
The blockbuster trade(s) the Lakers need would swap Vanderbilt, Vincent, Kleber, Knecht, and draft capital for a 3&D starting small forward and defensive backup center and open door to add 2 buyout rotation players.
For example, the Lakers could trade for Andrew Wiggins and Goga Bitadze and sign buyouts Kelly Oubre and CJ McCollum or trade for Dillon Brooks and Daniel Gafford and sign buyouts Khris Middleton and Terry Rozier.
Imagine adding Wiggins, Bitadze, Oubre, & McCollum or Brooks, Gafford, Middleton, & Rozier to a Lakers 8-man rotation that already possessed Doncic, Reaves, James, Smart, Hachimura, Ayton, LaRavia, & Hayes?
The Lakers would not only have a much deeper and more diverse starting lineup and rotation but would also have 3 or 4 legitimate rotation players who would essentially be their insurance policy against player injuries.
Strategically, the Lakers need to build a deeper and more diverse starting lineup and rotation with at least 12 legitimate rotation players to be able to win the championship despite negative injuries and load management.
I wonder if the feds would let Terry Rozier travel with the team since he is out on bond pending his criminal gambling trial 🙂