Many assumed that winning the In-Season Tournament would help the Los Angeles Lakers take off as a team, but the opposite has happened as they are 3-6 since being crowned champions in Las Vegas.
It became clear that a starting lineup change was needed to get out of their losing ways. While it was not the adjustment many would have anticipated with Jarred Vanderbilt replacing D’Angelo Russell, head coach Darvin Ham is searching for answers and hopes leaning into a defensive identity will solve the team’s problems.
This new Lakers lineup features LeBron James as the point guard and main ball-handler, similar to the 2019-20 season when they won a championship. Co-star Anthony Davis believes that having James as the initiator on offense is good for the team.
“It’s always good things that happen when the ball is in his hands. Obviously he’s an excellent, excellent passer. He can score the ball as well. He makes great reads. He’s a student of the game,” Davis said.
“He’s dissected this game for a long time so he’s seen every coverage and made a lot of great reads throughout his career. So every time we can get the ball in his hands and have him making those plays and those reads, it works out good for us.”
It is abundantly clear that Davis has the utmost faith in James to take over point guard duties as he is arguably the smartest player to ever play in the NBA. The only concern is putting too much responsibility on the 39-year-old with a lineup that does not feature many shot creators.
James is averaging 9.6 assists in his last 10 games, illustrating that he is following a similar path to the championship season when he averaged 10.2. While the sample size of the new Lakers lineup is small, James’ assists have seen an uptick, putting non-scorers like Vanderbilt and Cam Reddish in scoring positions.
All in all, it is entertaining to watch James initiate offense and display his one-of-a-kind playmaking, but it remains to be seen if this will weigh too much as this lineup continues to get games under its belt. However, the formula is there to show that good things happen when James is the lead guard, like winning a Larry O’Brien trophy.
Darvin Ham not concerned with increased workload for Lakers stars
While there may be some external questions with the increased scoring responsibility for James and Davis due to this new starting lineup, Ham is not concerned about this increased workload for his two stars.
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