Smart, Hachimura, or Vanderbilt? Who Will Be Lakers’ Fifth Starter?

After reportedly deciding to wait until midseason to see how the team does before trading for a elite defensive starting small forward, the big question facing JJ Redick and the Lakers now is who’s going to be their fifth starter?

With Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and De’Andre Ayton projected to start, the competition for the fifth starter seems to be between three players: Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura, and Jarred Vanderbilt. Smart is probably the best two-way player but smallest among the three, Hachimura the best offensive player with excellent positional size, and Vanderbilt the best defensive player also with excellent positional size.

Last season, the Lakers were a solid 11th in offensive rating, a mediocre 17th in defensive rating, and middle-of-the-pack 14th in net rating. They were almost a top-10 team on offense but poor defense pulled them down.
The storyline of strong offense held back by mediocre defense gets worse when looking at the Lakers’ starters, who were 7th in offense, 25th in defense, and 12th in net rating. Better offense but even poorer defense.

Veteran center De’Andre Ayton starting in place of youngster Jaxson Hayes will hopefully give the Lakers a dramatic boost in their ability to protect the rim and switch on the perimeter as well as better defensive rebounding.
But going into the season without a legitimate 3&D starting small forward or rim protecting backup center puts great pressure on the Lakers’ starting lineup and rotation to overachieve until help arrives at the trade deadline.

The reality is with a shredded and driven Luka Doncic, a healthy legacy seeking LeBron James, and a hungry redemption powered Austin Reaves, the Lakers don’t need any more offense. What they need is DEFENSE!

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Why Marcus Smart?

Marcus Smart, 6′ 3″, 220 lbs, 31 yrs old, 2-yr min contract w/player option
9.0/2.1/3.2/0.3/1.1 in 20.0 mpg shooting 39.3/34.8/76.1%

While he may no longer be the DPOY he was with the Celtics, Marcus Smart is the only one of the three candidates to be the Lakers’ fifth starter who has a proven history of being an elite all-league perimeter defender.

If Smart comes into camp healthy and in condition to play 30 minutes per game rather than the injury-riddled 20 minutes per game he played with the Grizzlies and Wizards last season, he should be the Lakers’ fifth starter.
More than anything, it’s the championship defensive intangibles Marcus would bring to the starting lineup that make him the obvious best option as the team’s fifth starter. His is the best defense, heart, and BBIQ of the three.

When the Lakers have played great defense, it’s been because of LeBron James’ ability to communicate and choreograph the team defensively. Smart will finally give James the defensive partner that Davis used to be.
De’Andre Ayton’s improved rim protection and help and Luka Doncic’s improved motivation and conditioning along with Marcus Smart’s BBIQ and charismatic leadership should transform the Lakers’ starting defense.

While Smart is the Lakers best option as a fifth starter, there are concerns because at 6′ 3,” he makes the Lakers smaller when the league is trending bigger and our weakness is our lack of a quality backup defensive center. Other concerns include Rui’s willingness and effectiveness to come off the bench and the reality that both he and Vando are very likely to be traded. Marcus could be the only one of the three left after the trade deadline.

While it will force them to play smaller, starting defense-first Marcus Smart as the team’s fifth starter is the surest way to transform the Lakers’ starting lineup from an offense-first squad to one that can both score and defend.

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Why NOT Rui Hachimura?

Rui Hachimura, 6′ 8″, 230 lbs, 27yrs old, 1-yr $18M expiring contract
13.1/5.0/1.4/0.4/0.8 in 31.7 mpg shooting 50.9/41.3/77.0%

Let’s start by noting Rui Hachimura had a better individual defensive rating last regular season than teammates Luka Doncic, Jarred Vanderbilt, Max Christie, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, LeBron James, and Dalton Knecht.

So the reason Rui Hachimura is going to be replaced as the Lakers’ fifth starter is not because he was the worst defender of the starters. It’s because the team needs a defensive infusion and he’s the logical one to be replaced. The Lakers are not going to ask one of their Big Three of Doncic, James, and Reaves to come off the bench and we already know Hachimura is not going to start at center instead of Ayton. Hence, Rui goes to the bench.

How Rui handles the move from starter to the bench will have a huge impact on the Lakers. The other major reason for moving Rui to the bench is the Lakers’ reserves finished 28 out of 30 in offensive rating last season.
If Rui can play starter minutes off the bench and average 18 points per game, it could transform the Lakers ability to score points when starters rest. Bench scoring was one of the Lakers’ greatest weakness last season.

The other benefit of Hachimura coming off the bench is being able to matchup against other power forwards. As a starter, Rui has always had to defend small forwards so that LeBron could defend slower power forwards.
Coming off the bench, Rui can now backup LeBron at power forward, both allowing LeBron to reduce his minutes to stay healthy and fresh for the playoffs and giving the reserves greater positional size and scoring.

While Rui is not the best fit to start, he should have a great opportunity to help the Lakers get off to a hot start in the west by coming off the bench as LeBron James’ backup at power forward and possible 6MOY candidate.

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Why NOT Jarred Vanderbilt?

Jarred Vanderbilt, 6′ 8″, 214 lbs, 26yrs old, 3-yr $37M contract
4.1/5.1/1.1/0.3/1.0 in 16.1 mpg shooting 48.8/28.1/55.6%

While the Lakers once hoped Jarred Vanderbilt would develop a good enough offensive game to prevent being played off the court, injuries and lack of swagger and confidence have severely hindered that progress

NBA players can legitimately play any position that they can defend. At 6′ 8″ with a 7′ 1″ wingspan, Vanderbilt is not only capable of defending guards
but would also have a distinct positional size advantage at shooting guard.
There is no better NBA starting foursome than Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and De’Andre Ayton that could optimize Jarred Vanderbilt’s defensive strengths while easily minimizing his offensive weaknesses.

Recent reports indicate the Lakers have lost patience with Vanderbilt and are not expecting him to be part of the team’s regular rotation. He’ll have to perform at a very high level in camp to be considered for a rotation role.
While downplaying expectations, the Lakers desperately need defense in the starting lineup and coming off the bench. Frankly, it’s irresponsible for them not to find a viable role for Vanderbilt, the team’s best defender.

Basically, Vanderbilt is one of five players along with Vincent, Hachimura, Kleber, and Knecht, whom the Lakers are probably going to move on from this season in a major consolidation trade right before the trade deadline.
Needless to say, the Lakers would be thrilled if Vanderbilt had a great camp and showed he could be a viable option as a 5th starter. The Lakers would like nothing more than giving Vanderbilt a starting audition for the NBA.

In the end, Jarred Vanderbilt’s time with the Lakers is coming to a close. Despite a desperate need for defense, the Lakers are preparing to move on from Jarred Vanderbilt and should not consider him as their fifth starter.