Well, we know two players–Steve Nash and Pau Gasol–will definitely be starting, barring any injuries.
Nash will play point guard, of course, and Gasol will start at the center position. After the debacle surrounding Gasol last season, I think there’s little doubt that his natural position is in the low-post, and head coach Mike D’Antoni certainly realizes that and has an easy decision to make now that Dwight Howard is gone.
As for the other three starters, many variables will play into that decision, and it will certainly take some experimentation on D’Antoni’s part.
Here are a few scenarios.
Possible Lineup #1: Traditional
- PG: Steve Nash
- SG: Nick Young
- SF: Wesley Johnson
- PF: Jordan Hill/Chris Kaman
- C: Pau Gasol
D’Antoni can start Nick Young at the shooting guard slot, Wesley Johnson at the small forward position, and Jordan Hill or Chris Kaman at power forward. This would be the most traditional lineup, and provide the Lakers with one of their better possible defensive lineups in the front court. Individual defense is a weak point for the Lakers, and although Kurt Rambis will help with team defense, there are certain things he can’t fix.
Having said that, Wesley Johnson is probably the best defensive option for the Lakers at the small forward position, and Chris Kaman and Jordan Hill are players who are capable of cleaning up the glass and know how to mix it up in the paint. Defensively, this would be a feasible option for the Lakers, although the back court will have some weaknesses on that end of the floor.
On a side note, after Xavier Henry’s breakout performance on Saturday night (29 points, 7 rebounds on 9-14 shooting from the field; 2-4 from three point land), he could make the case for starting in Kobe’s absence. Of course, he’d have to make the team’s final cut first, but he certainly made a case for himself over the weekend — averaging 22 points and five rebounds in two preseason games.
Once again, this would be the more “traditional” type of lineup in the sense of having a natural shooting guard in the two-guard slot, a small forward at the three, and most importantly a traditional power forward at the four slot.
However, Mike D’Antoni and “traditional” hardly go together in the same sentence, as D’Antoni loves to play a spaced out, “small ball” style; which brings us to the next possible lineup.
We actually saw a variation of this lineup on Sunday evening, with Shawne Williams at power forward in an attempt of a faster paced style with a “stretch four.” Williams did decently well, knocking down a few outside shots and exhibiting a few nice defensive plays. For future reference, we’ll label this lineup “Contingent,” contingent upon whether D’Antoni opts for a “stretch four” in his lineup and contingent on whether Williams makes the team and can shoot consistently from long range.
Williams isn’t widely considered a “stretch four” or a consistent outside shooter, but in his best season — under Mike D’Antoni for 64 games in New York — he averaged 40 percent from behind the three-point line. Mentions of him being a “stretch four” for the Lakers would be contingent upon the fact that he can get back to that level of shooting.
Next Page: Lineup #2 – Run & Fun
- PG: Steve Nash
- SG: Steve Blake
- SF: Nick Young
- PF: Wesley Johnson/Shawne Williams
- C: Pau Gasol
This possible lineup may seem a bit far-fetched, but let’s think about it for a second. Mike D’Antoni likes point guards. Actually, he loves point guards, and loves to let them run the show.
In 13 games as a starter toward the end of last season, Steve Blake averaged 10.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists with eFG% of 56.5. Additionally, Blake and Nash really seemed to click and play well together. I can certainly see Blake picking up where he left off last season, and D’Antoni encouraging him to do so. Starting Blake would allow Jordan Farmar to get on the floor as well.
As for the small forward slot, D’Antoni could go with Nick Young if he really wants to go with his best offensive lineup. Many would say, “That’s great, that’ll provide offense on the wings to go along with a strong inside presence featuring Gasol and either Hill or Kaman.” Sure, but if you’re D’Antoni, why stop at Nash, Blake, and Young? Why not keep the “small ball” theme going and try to use a less traditional power forward in favor of someone who can play as a “stretch four” instead?
Wesley Johnson and Shawne Williams could be experimented in this role. Elias Harris (although he’s not guaranteed to receive a contract and didn’t shoot the long ball well last season at Gonzaga) could also be experimented here, but is very unlikely to start.
Wesley Johnson could see some time as a “stretch four,” but I wouldn’t count on it for too long — especially if he’s guarding bigger, stronger forwards in the post.
As mentioned earlier, a variation of this lineup and the Traditional one was used with Shawne Williams at the four slot on Sunday, and given his overall length and athleticism along with the potential to shoot well from the outside, he very well could be the best candidate to fill the stretch four role if retained by the team.
One possible benefit of Run & Fun is that you’d see Chris Kaman and Jordan Hill likely come off the bench and into the game together. Personally, with Kaman’s outside range and Hill’s supposed improvement of his outside shot coupled with each player’s knack for rebounding and battling in the paint, I think the two could play quite well together.
However, I’d rather see one of them start alongside Pau Gasol and the other get solid minutes off the bench.
Next Page: Lineup #3 – Defense First
Possible Lineup #3: Defense First
- PG: Steve Nash
- SG: Steve Blake
- SF: Welsey Johnson
- PF: Jordan Hill
- C: Pau Gasol
Although Nick Young may be needed to pick up some of the offensive slack while Kobe Bryant recovers, and it’ll surely be beneficial for him to play significant minutes alongside Steve Nash, if D’Antoni foresees Young as the Lakers’ offensive spark off the bench and backup to Kobe in the long run, it may be best to let him get accustomed to that role early on.
With this lineup, Nash, Blake, and Gasol would keep the ball moving with a traditional wing player (Johnson) as well as a rugged offensive rebounder in Jordan Hill. (For edification, Jordan Hill, in 29 games last season, he had a remarkable ORB%, of 18.1.)
There certainly may be matchup problems if Blake is faced with a larger shooting guard, but I have a feeling it’s a risk D’Antoni’s willing to make if the offense is flowing well — not to mention the fact that Steve Blake is a scrappy defender who doesn’t back down from any player, no matter how big his opponent may be.
Although he spent just approximately 20 percent of his time on the floor at the shooting guard position last season, Blake’s opponents’ PER was 11.5, compared with 17.5 when he was guarding point guards. Nick Young’s opponents’ PER was 14.2 last season with the Philadelphia 76ers, although his individual PER (11.6) was higher than Blake’s (9.9) at the shooting guard spot.
This lineup would also allow for Jodie Meeks and Nick Young to come in together with Jordan Farmar for an extremely fast-paced, quick-shooting lineup. For anyone wondering, I don’t foresee Meeks starting any games as he wasn’t very effective as a starter last season, but had his moments as a reserve. Again, if kept on board, Xavier Henry could be thrown into the rotation as well.
This would truly allow D’Antoni to run his run-and-fun style of basketball within the second unit if he chooses to go with a stretch four in addition to Farmar, Meeks/Henry, and Young. We likely wouldn’t always see five reserves on the floor together, but if he wanted to, he could have a combination of the aforementioned players alongside any player he designates as the stretch four, as well as whichever big man he opts to roll with — either Gasol, Kaman, or Hill. All three are capable rebounders, so the combination certainly could work.
Next Page: Final Thought
Final Thought
Obviously, Mike D’Antoni will continue to tinker with his lineup — as he should — during preseason and will hopefully have a solid lineup in place should Kobe Bryant not be available for the start of the season. Further tweaks may be necessary depending match-ups on a game-by-game basis. Personally, I see the starting lineup for the first game looking like this:
- PG: Steve Nash
- SG: Steve Blake
- SF: Wesley Johnson
- PF: Jordan Hill
- C: Pau Gasol
This allows D’Antoni to play all three point guards significant minutes, while also providing a solid defensive lineup. Although D’Antoni is known for the premium he places on offense, it appears as though defense has truly been the emphasis since the start of training camp, with Kurt Rambis taking the reigns at that end of the floor. Per Ben Bolch of the L.A. Times, Rambis had this to say recently:
“The motto we’re trying to send to the players is that our team defense has to be great. That means we have to put a lot of pressure on strong-side action, and our weak side has to do a great job of being supportive in helping guys.”
“Everybody’s got to be connected. Everybody’s got responsibilities and duties and they have to adhere to those.”
So, we’ll have Steve Nash at the point guard position as expected, and I see Blake as the second guard D’Antoni starts unless the Lakers begin ballgames extremely flat and absolutely need some scoring (likely from Nick Young).
With Nick Young coming off the bench, he’ll certainly add a spark to the second unit and will truly have a “green light” on the offensive end of the floor when he comes into the game. Additionally, it would prepare him for his role when Kobe does return, if indeed his role is going to be backing up the Bryant and providing scoring for a second unit that struggled to produce offense last season.
As for Wes Johnson, I feel as though he’s the forward the team is looking at to finally realize some of the potential the Minnesota Timberwolves saw in him when they drafted him fourth overall in 2010. As long as he performs well in the preseason, I see him starting at the three spot. If he doesn’t, I see Nick Young or Xavier Henry (if retained) starting instead.
As for the power forward spot, I’m sure Mike D’Antoni is leaning towards putting a stretch four out there, but may hold back in favor of interior defense and rebounding. The two aren’t mutually exclusive, but on this team Jordan Hill is not a stretch four and is one of the better defenders on the team. That’s why I foresee him starting at this position. Certainly that could change if someone like Shawne Williams consistently impresses the coaching staff on both ends of the floor — essentially filling the role Earl Clark left.
However, given Chris Kaman’s range, I can certainly see him starting at the four slot as well. At the same time, Kaman could be the veteran presence necessary for the second unit to succeed. Add in his versatility and ability to pass (his assists numbers don’t necessarily reflect his ability and willingness to pass; although it was just one preseason game, he did log four assists on Saturday night), and I’d like to see him as the leader of the Bench Mob. This would also ensure that a seven-footer is always on the floor, even if D’Antoni chooses to go small with the rest of his guys.
Pau Gasol, as discussed, would obviously start the game at the center position.
Now, if spacing becomes an issue I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Run & Fun lineup with Shawne Williams possibly being the stretch four, or a variation of it with Chris Kaman at the four slot:
- PG: Steve Nash
- SG: Steve Blake
- SF: Nick Young
- PF: Chris Kaman/Shawne Williams
- C: Pau Gasol
I could see this working with speed and shooting in the back court and on the wings, with Kaman capable of both stretching the floor on offense and also defending in the paint or going with a designated stretch four starting instead. Starting Kaman, however, would give the Lakers a hybrid between a stretch four and a post player, but speed would be an issue.
As you can tell, I’m pretty set on Steve Blake starting at the shooting guard position and feel that it would actually be a solid, consistent option. If D’Antoni opts to not start Blake altogether, either the Traditional or Contingent lineups could work.
Ultimately, the decision will be based on performances throughout the rest of preseason as well as which players coach D’Antoni feels will be better suited to start or come off the bench.
As you can very well see, there are a number of options and none that appear as clear-cut as they seemed last season, especially with the Black Mamba being sidelined for the foreseeable future.
That’s why we want to hear from you, the fans. Who do you think should start at the beginning of the season? Who do you think would be best coming off the bench? Leave your comments below.