LeBron on LAL through 10 games

My biggest concern as the Lakers enter the stretch run for the regular season and prepare for the playoffs is not Anthony Davis’ or LeBron James’ health. It’s the Lakers apparent plans to minimize the minutes Anthony Davis plays at the five.

Frankly, I’m worried that the Lakers are so dead set on not having Davis play center they’re going to put the team’s championship hopes on some combination of Andre Drummond, Marc Gasol, and Montrezl Harrell being able to hold down the center position so Anthony Davis does not have to play the five.

Anybody who understands the game can see via the simple eye test that Drummond at the five is not going to be a winning move in the playoffs. Regardless of who else the Lakers put on the floor, Drummond is like a fish out of the water trying to play D. He’s always out of position, unable to protect the rim, and a step late. And Gasol and Harrell are not that much better.

The sooner the Lakers realize this, the better their chances of making the right adjustments, which would be playing Davis at the five with Markieff Morris or even LeBron James at the four. That’s they only way the Lakers are going to repeat as champs.

I’m hoping Frank sees this already and once we get into the playoffs, we’ll see a repeat of last year when first McGee and then Howard got benched and we went with AD at the five. Drummond, Gasol, and Harrell will get minutes when there’s a good matchup but generally the Lakers need to go small in the playoffs with Anthony Davis at the five.

If that means abandoning the idea of Drummond being a difference maker or benching Harrell entirely, then so be it. If that mean AD plays 50% of his time at the five like last year, then so be it. That’s the only way the Lakers are going to win this year.

If the Lakers want to find a center who can complement Davis, they need to trade for a player like Myles Turner, Christian Wood, or Chris Boucher and stop the stupid annual Rent-a-Center campaigns that only screw up the defense and clog the paint for LeBron and AD. Time to get smart and find a modern stretch center who complements Anthony Davis.