It can be easy to look too far ahead in life. To project into the future may may or may not occur. In the case of being a fan of the Lakers it’s almost easier to look back and see all that could have gone better, or in some cases, worse. When it comes to the start of the 2024-25 season I have, thus far, resisted the urge to define what this Lakers team will look like and prioritize. Too many variables left unaccounted for over the summer. Sure, we brought back the same roster, but folks tend to forget that Vincent and Vando barely played, Rui wasn’t available for the first month or so with a calf strain and then again for a couple weeks when he had the nasal fracture. The piling on Darvin Ham started early and didn’t really let up due both to his roster indecisiveness and some curios in-game choices that led to losses. New coaching blood was brought in, along with a couple rookies, and so everyone seemed to expect a sort of repeat from last season. That narrative ignores a lot of facts and when those are taken into account it’s not as surprising we’re not having de ja vu this season but getting a fresher, more exciting outcome.

1. The emergence of Anthony Davis. It’s not often you see a player take a step forward this late in their career. I can honestly say I have never seen AD this dominant, confident and forceful in his play. Nothing tangible has changed much; looking at his shot chart it’s the same batch of AD type shots he’s always taken. What’s changed is both his demeanor (pissed off and hungry for respect he feels is lacking) and the team’s focus on getting him the ball early and not just on post ups. If you watch the best all around centers (Jokic and Sabonis) they get the ball above the free throw line out to the three point line and make reads off of that. They function in spots Kobe used to operate from and then, when he had the perfect Robin to his Bat Man in Pau Gasol, he ceded those spots to the Big Spaniard in favor of letting him generate easy offense in the half court. That never meant the iso game went away, it was simply relied upon a lot less and the team benefitted from it instantly. So, too, has this change elevated the laker offense as a whole. Gone are the muddy possessions where two or three players are operating out of the elbows, the corner and the arc three point line. That allowed the defense to load up on AD more and cut off driving lanes. These sets, to me, look vaguely like old triangle sets. AD at the elbow up to the three point line, a single shooter stationed down in the corner and another player moving through space creating the angled set of the same name: a triangle. I’ll get more into this idea down yonder but this kind of action has allowed AD to score, make a play for others and elevate the entire team in the doing.
2. LeBron still LeBron. I kinda started to wonder…was this what he was going to look like all season? Under 20 ppg, decent impact, solid all around play, but markedly less impact than hoped for but we were winning so who cares? Cue Saturday night and a dominant 4th quarter run that put the Lakers firmly in the driver’s seat to close out the win. It’s good to know that the ultimate safety valve can still dial it up when needed. I also liked his post game comments about not needing to do that all game because we’re a team. It’s that camaraderie that we’ll need more of when the games get harder, possibly as soon as tonight on the road, to help weather storms and bumpy patches.
3. Using the rookie right. Dalton Knecht is being used in the exact right way. He’s playing about 7-8 minutes/half and not generally in crunch time moments allowing him to both build up stamina (and hopefully avoid a rookie wall later in the season) and build up his confidence at the same time, although watching him play makes me think he doesn’t really lack for confidence. Still I’d rather see him continue in this way with a really specific role for the young man and let him grow into his talent rather than trying to rush things along because he’s had a nice stretch of play. Being the microwave scorer off the bench while playing a steady game in this role is the perfect way to incubate a rookie who you don’t necessarily need to rely on consistently just yet.
4. The struggles of Max Christie. It’s not that he’s playing poorly, he’s making the right play in front of him, for the most part, and not forcing anything. It’s just that he won’t have a role when Vando comes back which will hopefully be before Thanksgiving. Max is too light to guard the bigger NBA players he often gets switched onto in our defensive schemes, isn’t aggressive enough (or frankly good enough) to be a microwave scorer, and generally looks like he’s topped out his skill set and talent at this point out there. Yes, I know we gave him a big deal early in free agency (and have often wondered why) but when Jarred returns there won’t be a role for him and even Hayes’ minutes could suffer a bit based on matchups. On the upcoming road trip I see two games where Max’s minutes will probably go to Bronny: in Cleveland for a Father/Son homecoming of sorts and maybe in Detroit if Max continues to have a willowy impact. Bronny could also see some action on the back-to-back in Toronto and let Vincent rest a game on the bench. Back to Max, he needs to find a higher level of aggression. I don’t need him to be the next Lou Williams but his presence needs to be felt and too often it simply is not.
5. Coach Reddick pushing the right buttons so far. The honeymoon continues and the wins keep coming so what’s not to like? The rotations, mainly due to good health this season so far, have looked better. The biggest add has been off ball activity from our guards and wings from the corner spots. The defense has showed us some different looks and it will be interesting to see what ole Vando has/gets when he comes back. But, for me, the overall movement on offense and quick decisions we’re seeing are what’s setting Coach Reddick apart from his predecessor. As illustrated above, we’re seeing some triangle 101 type action to create movement and flow. This opens up backdoor cuts, defensive indecision which allows for quick scores, and a general “share the wealth” vibe which behooves great basketball. A lot fewer iso sets is always welcome, in my opinion. Not forcing threes because it’s 2024 and there’s only one way that everyone thinks basketball need be played now is always welcome. Enabling guys like Reaves and AD to make plays for others so the burden shifts away from LeBron having to do everything or relying on DLo to go off. This style of hoops has opened up Rui and Reave’s games a lot and here’s hoping this is the new status quo.

Next up, a 5 game roadie starts tonight in Phoenix who likely would like to whup us pretty good. Great test of all the principles outlined above and here’s hoping we keep the good times rolling.

Lotta “First” boxes checked last night. Bronny James and his pop shared the floor to check his first game and the first time a father/son duo shared the floor together. Dalton Knecht netted his first bucket(s). Coach Reddick got his first win. The Lakers won their first game. Only first left un-checked was Bronny scoring his first bucket, as well. After all that hullaballoo it would have been easy to lose the game, like so many historic moment games have gone of late, but after going back to the tried and true formula for recent Laker wins we pulled out the W and started the season right.

1. No answer for AD. This must be the new way forward. There can’t be any disappearing acts this season if AD wants the respect that has recently proved elusive, and for the Lakers to reach their goals this is the way Anthony Davis needs to play night in and night out. 11-23 from the floor, (1-3 from three point land) to go with 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks and a steal. There are few defenders that can hang with Davis and when he asserts himself it’s an entirely different looking Lakers team. AD creates shots and space in a manner that goes against the modern NBA grain: from the inside out. By dominating inside Davis creates shots for his perimeter guys and cutters. If he can average 5+ assists per game along with everything else he will be in the MVP conversation and rightly so.
2. The Glue Man. If AD is a force of nature, Austin Reaves is the bond that makes everything look smooth. His all around effort and performance helped make this a rebounding neutral game (one where, for a time, we were dominant on the glass (until the effort of the T’Wolves up ticked after halftime). Like most of the team his three ball proved elusive but it didn’t deter him from being aggressive on the glass and in getting into the heart of the defense to make plays or shots. Nothing, except maybe the rebounds, jumps off the stat sheet but if you watched the games you saw a player applying pressure on the defense, contesting shots and aggressively hunting the rebound. That’s what we need out of Austin Reaves on the daily.
3. The Rui Hachimura Power Game. It feels like a cosmic event, only seen once every few weeks or even months. But so far during the NBA 2024-25 season the power game of Rui Hachimura has been used every single game. Last night it was on full display and here’s hoping it’s around to stay. Gone were the willowy step back fade aways. Instead we saw player seeking contact and going up through it using both speed and power to get closer to the basket. Even on his jump shots I thought he was better about going straight up and into the shot rather than drifting back or to one side or the other. This, like Reaves, is the version of the player we need to see the most consistently. If he plays like this and averages close to 20 ppg on decent efficiency he’ll be in line for a most improved player award.
4. The “new” Laker identity. Again, t’was but one single game. Still, it’s hard to ignore the fact that the Lakers won this game the way they won so many games the last 2 seasons regardless of the coach: power over style or volume. The Lakers interior game was stellar leading to a +32 point discrepancy in points in the paint. The free throw line battle was also a place we won, albeit by a single point, but the aggressiveness and pressure we apply by playing with force and attacking the basket is an advantage this team has that few do in the modern game. When the three ball was obviously not falling did we refuse to adapt and just keep chucking up bad shots? No, we pressed further into the defense and found guys around the rim and dominated the paint. Like we need to. As I’ve said, there is no correct answer to thew question of how many ______’s should we shoot? The number of any kind of shot attempts taken is inconsequential if winning is the objective. The answer will be different every night. What was heartening to see, for me anyhow, was that we didn’t try to re-forge an identity in one game. That we shot 5-30 from distance shows me that some guys aren’t consistent enough to make the three pointer the uber weapon some insist we must embrace beyond reason. That we pivoted away and went inside also showed me that both coach and player are adaptable and will seek to find what works beyond the outer politics of the game. As it should be.
5. Rookie Watch 2025! They played. Knecht looked like he did in preseason: steady, albeit slow to react on defense. Bronny, too, in his whopping 3 minutes of game action in that he played hard if mostly ineffectually (nice offensive rebound though). Still, it was nice to get the side show over with and they can both move on to improving their games. In general I don’t see much of a role for Bronny that Reddish can’t do better and Knecht may ultimately lose minutes to Vando once he returns and if he can score ably enough. That’s OK, they’re both young and we can maybe slide Knecht into Max Christie’s minutes since he still looks a long way from ready for prime time. Either way, they’re both development projects, like Koloko will be should he ever get cleared, this season and my hope is they can slide into the roster slots and roles vacated next summer by Reddish and Wood. Knecht may prove to be further along than that but it’s early and he’s not going to get the minutes he can see down in the G League. A riddle for the staff to ponder, assuredly.

Summer has brought on the dog days and the new CBA has somewhat dulled player movement to the degree we’ve seen I. Summer’s past. Since I’m not seeing king happening on the trade front I thought now would be a good time to talk defense.

The following assumes decent health for the team overall and isn’t accounting for player not currently on the roster. Those are exercises for the imagination, not reality.

1) What might our defensive identity look like? The Laker defense has 2 main issues, besides limiting the opponent’s scoring, “hiding” DLo effectively and reducing wear and tear on LeBron James.  Of the 2 hiding DLo is the bigger challenge. With his decent size and average strength and overall speed (although he is quicker than most give him credit for) a 2-3 zone where he’s not the point of attack defender (when possible) where DLo and LBJ are responsible for the corner zones and AD is in the middle makes sense, especially if Vando is a starter and pressures half court, or even full at times.  Having LBJ man a corner zone means he can maybe crash the glass a little more and get the offense going off the break in addition to potentially reducing his responsibilities on that end. A 2-3 zone w/AD in the middle could lead to rebounding issues, which we had plenty of last season as we all know, but you have to give up something in the NBA and the zone helps reduce individual break downs, keeps pressure on the perimeter and at the rim, and if we battle we can minimize the impact of giving up offensive rebounds.

2) Why not man-to-man or switch everything? In short because we lack the horses to run that race. DLo, Reaves, Rui and even LeBron at this point are fairly one-dimensional and all of them have pretty glaring weaknesses on D. DLo simply underwhelms, feels like he could be decent/average but the short version is he is who he is. Reaves can get bullied off his man, Rui is game but lacks the instincts and awareness to maximize his side and speed like the elite two way SFs do. LBJ is old. Very old, he’s not going to put forth Olympic effort every game. So we need to get creative in how we deploy him in D to save him for offense. Man to man defense only will see all of the players above get abused in various situations and plays. Switch everything requires players we don’t have and chemistry I haven’t seen develop, yet. Vogel had a keen mind for defense and got Kuzma to buy in and had Caruso and Green as fail safes. This team has Vando, maybe Vincent and they’ve never played together. I’m not saying we won’t see any man or switching but I don’t think it should be our main defensive identity.

3) Reducing three point efficiency has to be key. I don’t necessarily mind giving up a lot of 3 point shots, I do want to reduce 3 point makes. With so many guys being able to get shots off in the blink of an eye it feels sillier every season to say we’ll contain shooters. Contesting shots at a high level feels more realistic.  Since we’re not the tallest/fastest team we need to be better about defensive positioning and reacting, not having sub par defenders get abused off screen actions is another reason I favor a zone as our main go-to defense identity.

4) AD featured. Going zone hells feature AD on defense and maybe helps him get a DPOY trophy. This is not really important but anything that highlights overall defensive performance w/AD in the middle of it all can’t be bad. If AD is in the convo for DPOY it means the defense isn’t awful on a basic level.

5) Identifying our best 2 way lineups. This one is crucial because, based on reputation, we don’t have a ton of two way players. We’re probably going to lean on Vando and Vincent to ball hawk and pressure playmakers on the perimeter as well as being the first helpers. We’re going to have to hope guys like Hayes and Reaves can take a step forward and address individual concerns. Reaves could stand to add some muscle and work on his ability to use his length to disrupt the dribble. Hayes and AD could be a dominant defensive tandem, in theory, but Hayes needs to bit foul and be better at hedging and his recovery defense. There are other guys who can step into a bigger role if these 2 can’t rise to the challenge but for all concerned it would be best if they found another level. As it stands today I’d say my top defensive lineup would be Vincent, Vando, Rui, LeBron and AD. I’d love to see Hayes or Reaves supplant LeBron, though. We’re going to need a lot from The King on offense and it’s simply unrealistic to expect him to put forth high effort on both ends for 82 and be fresh for the playoffs.

What are your thoughts on a 2-3 zone as a main identity, not the be all end all but the primary option, and your favorite defensive 5?