Lakers’ 2012 Depth Chart: Getting to Know Your Team

Most casual Lakers fans know the key players on the team, and with constant news of recent additions Steve Nash, Dwight Howard, and Antawn Jamison, you pretty much know the guys you’ll see on the court for the majority of games next season.

There’s little doubt that you’ll see a starting lineup of Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace, Pau Gasol, and Dwight Howard this fall, and most of you know exactly what those guys bring to the table and what they’re capable of.

For the sake of not being repetitive, we will focus here on the depth of the Lakers’ roster, and some of the lesser-known players on the team and where/how they might help.

The Lakers started off the summer by acquiring guard Darius Johnson-Odom and center Robert Sacre via the draft.

Then, they acquired Steve Nash through a sign-and-trade deal with Phoenix, signed Antawn Jamison through free-agency, re-signed Jordan Hill, managed to get Dwight Howard in a blockbuster four-team deal, re-signed Devin Ebanks, and lastly signed Jodie Meeks through free-agency as well.

Along with Howard, however, the Lakers received two “throw-ins” in the forms of Chris Duhon and Earl Clark; to which Lakers Nation’s own Elizabeth Benson delved into their respective potential.

Similarly, another member of our staff, Josh Sexton, recently ranked Mitch Kupchak’s top transactions as the team’s general manager; in which two of the three aforementioned moves broke the “top three” portion of the ranking.

Anyway, if you take all the names I just mentioned and add in holdovers Steve Blake and Andrew Goudelock, that makes 16 players. Only 15 players are allowed on a roster, however, which will mean at least one player will be sent down to the D-League or possibly even be waived. Additionally, only 13 players are allowed on the active roster.

Nonetheless, the Lakers will have all players at their disposal at the start of the upcoming season, so let’s break down the depth chart as follows:

Point Guard	Shooting Guard	Small Forward	Power Forward	Center
Steve Nash	Kobe Bryant	Metta World Peace	Pau Gasol	Dwight Howard
Steve Blake	Jodie Meeks	Antawn Jamison		Pau Gasol
Chris Duhon	Devin Ebanks		Jordan Hill
Darius Morris	Andrew Goudelock	Earl Clark		Robert Sacre
	Darius Johnson-Odom

As you may notice, certain players overlap, as they are capable of playing multiple positions. Additionally, I have ranked the players in order of whom I believe would get playing time in front of the other. However, some of those potential minutes are contingent upon how other players perform, or how coach Mike Brown decides to utilize his players.

Up next, we will break down the depth chart position-by-position.

Next Page: Point Guard

To start, let’s take a look at depth at the point guard position:

1. Steve Nash
2. Steve Blake
3. Chris Duhon
4. Darius Morris

Behind future Hall-of-Famer Steve Nash, there are three point guards in line to back him up. Steve Blake is the likely candidate to come off the bench and spell Nash, but Chris Duhon could potentially see some minutes too.

As Elizabeth Benson notes in the aforementioned article, Blake and Duhon possess a similar style of game, and also hold similar career averages (Blake averages 6.9 points, 3.9 assists, and 2.1 rebounds on 40.4 percent shooting from the field and 38.7 percent shooting from three-point land while Duhon averages 6.8 points, 4.6 assists, 2.3 rebounds on 39.4 percent shooting from the field and 36.3 shooting from three).

However, as Benson also explains, Duhon’s physicality on defense could earn him some minutes. Additionally, Blake has been inconsistent in his two seasons with the Lakers, which could leave his reserve status up to competition.

Duhon may have appeared to decline in his career, but he once averaged 11.0 points and 7.2 assists in 79 games with the New York Knicks (although he averaged 2.8 turnovers in the same season).

At the very least, he may find himself getting situational playing time, and should one of the point guards ahead of him get injured, the Lakers can find solace that they have a capable veteran on the roster to help out.

Darius Morris is coming off a quiet rookie season in which he only appeared on the court 19 times. He was unimpressive in his first season, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets sent down to the D-League for most of the season to gain experience.

Final Thought – Steve Nash averaged just over 30 minutes per game last season, and in order for him to remain fresh, he will have to keep that number in the same vicinity. Luckily, Nash will have two point guards behind him capable of playing anywhere from 18-25 solid minutes so if one of them goes down, the other can step right in and it wouldn’t weigh too heavily on the 38-year-old.

Next Page: Shooting Guard

Now, let’s take a look at the shooting guard position:

1. Kobe Bryant
2. Jodie Meeks
3. Devin Ebanks
4. Andrew Goudelock
5. Darius Johnson-Odom

Well, we all know that Kobe Bryant is going to get the majority of minutes here. However, at his age (34), it’s necessary to keep the Black Mamba off of the court as much as possible so he’ll be fresh for the playoffs.

Enter Jodie Meeks.

Meeks will be a true backup for Bryant as he has averaged 9.5 points on 41.7 percent shooting from the field and 38.1 percent shooting from behind the arc in 26:11 minutes over his last two seasons.

Right behind Meeks will likely be Devin Ebanks, as Ebanks found himself in Mike Brown’s rotation towards the end of last season while then-rookie Andrew Goudelock was sentenced to the bench. Goudelock, however, showed promise from long-range, and also displayed his ability to drive into the lane convert on a teardrop shot Lakers Nation appropriately named “the Glock Drop.”

Goudelock–who was nicknamed the Mini-Mamba last year by Bryant–could actually find himself third in line behind the original Black Mamba should Ebanks be forced to vacate his shooting guard duties in favor of small forward duties; which is quite likely (we’ll get to that in the next segment).

However, Darius Johnson-Odom, who averaged 18.3 points on 44.7 percent shooting in his last season at Marquette, could potentially be bumped ahead of Goudelock if he somehow earns coach Brown’s respect and isn’t sent down to the D-League.

All of this will be dependent on how well each player defends, however. The Lakers are still not very stable when it comes to back-court defense, so Mike Brown will surely be looking for consistent defense behind Bryant to guard both back-court positions.

Final Thought – The Lakers suddenly have options behind Kobe Bryant, but as long as everyone’s healthy, it’s a safe bet to assume Jodie Meeks will be the one spelling Bryant for the season. It never hurts to have too many options, though.

Next Page: Small Forward

Unless Metta World Peace comes into training camp completely out of shape and unable to hit a shot (like he did last season), he will likely be in the starting lineup. World Peace is reportedly in great shape, however, and his defense will be highly valued, so he’s basically a lock to start barring any unforeseen events. So, let’s take a look at the small forward slot:

1. Metta World Peace
2. Antawn Jamison
3. Devin Ebanks
4. Earl Clark

Now here’s where things get a bit complicated. Metta World Peace will start, but who will be behind him in the rotation? Well, that all depends on what goes on in the front court. Antawn Jamison can play both positions, but primarily plays the power forward position. Jamison is far more comfortable at the four spot, but should Jordan Hill play exceptionally well at that position, or Devin Ebanks not perform up to standards at small forward, Jamison could be asked to help out at both positions.

Earl Clark could potentially see some time at the small forward position too, but according to 82games.com, his PER (Player Efficiency Rating) was 4.2 at small forward compared with 9.4 at the power forward slot last season. Additionally, Clark is 6’10” (although just 225 lbs) so it would make better sense for him to play at the power forward position.

Additionally, Clark has career averages of just 3.1 points and 2.1 rebounds over three seasons.

One thing sticks out to me, though. I once stated that retaining Devin Ebanks was the correct choice for the Lakers because of his size and athleticism, and also noted his flashes of success on the defensive end against superstar Kevin Durant.

When sizing them up, Ebanks’ wingspan was 4.5 inches shorter than Durant’s (the Thunder superstar’s was 7′ 4.75″), and he additionally gave up two inches in height (6’7″ compared with Durant’s 6’9″ without shoes), but he was also one of the few players in the league with some kind of length to at least get in Durant’s airspace.

Earl Clark, however, possesses the same height as Durant and a wingspan of 7′ 2.5″. With his size at only 225 pounds coupled with his athleticism and versatility, if the Lakers can get him to focus on guarding guys like Kevin Durant–or just Kevin Durant–he could potentially find himself getting minutes in big games.

Final Thought – With Devin Ebanks recently getting his weight up to 225,  it appears as though he’s solely focused on playing at the small forward position next season, and unless he simply can’t perform up to expectations, it looks like he’ll be the first in line to back up Metta World Peace.  Antawn Jamison could still steal minutes from him, though.

Next Page: Power Forward

Just as complicated as the small forward position may get, the power forward slot may get as well. So, let’s take a look:

1. Pau Gasol
2. Antawn Jamison
3. Jordan Hill
4. Earl Clark

Pau Gasol will obviously start at this position, and I would expect Antawn Jamison to be his primary backup. Scoring is what the Lakers severely lacked off the bench last season, and scoring is exactly what Jamison brings to the table.

But what if Jordan Hill begins to play exceptionally well? Hill proved himself in big games at the very end of last season, and brought his consistency and defense with him into the playoffs.

I know you’re thinking “well, Hill can play the center position, so he can just back up Dwight Howard if that’s the case,” but that isn’t as clear-cut as it seems, either.

When Howard goes out of the game (it was Andrew Bynum in the past, obviously), Pau Gasol usually slides over to the center position.

This is a great time for Gasol, as he’s actually featured in the offense more and is more efficient; Gasol has a 21.7 PER at the five spot compared to a 20.1 PER at power forward.

Similarly, Gasol is better defensively against centers as well, and should Howard miss time either at the start of the season or later on, Gasol is undoubtedly the player who would fill in at his position.

As for Earl Clark, I doubt he’ll seriously get any time at either the small forward or power forward positions.

Final Thought – With Pau Gasol starting at power forward, Antawn Jamison is likely to be his primary backup, but coach Brown could opt to have Jordan Hill split minutes between the power forward and center positions if he performs extremely well.

Next Page: Center

Finally, we are at the center position. Dwight Howard could possibly be out to start the season, and a bevy of players would have to step up if that were to happen. However, let’s look at the depth chart should Howard be healthy for the whole season:

1. Dwight Howard
2. Pau Gasol
3. Jordan Hill
4. Robert Sacre

Again, as soon as Howard is off the floor and Gasol isn’t, I would expect Gasol to slide over to the center position as he’s so comfortable doing. Similarly, if Howard is to miss any time, Gasol would seamlessly take over at that position.

If Jordan Hill shows the consistency he flashed last season, however, Mike Brown would likely try to find him some minutes. In that case, I wouldn’t be surprised if he went with a four-man rotation on the front line comprised of Howard, Gasol, Hill, and Jamison.

The only problem with that, however, is that Jamison wouldn’t exactly get enough minutes–that is, unless he were to split minutes at the power forward and small forward positions; which would leave Ebanks out in the cold.

If I had to guess, I would say that Jordan Hill would likely find himself playing limited minutes if everyone is healthy.

However, perhaps Mike Brown would sacrifice the production he could get from Gasol at the center position and let Hill solely take over those backup responsibilities in the name of keeping Gasol as fresh as possible.

Gasol, to be fair, played the second-most amount of total minutes of any NBA player last season, so he definitely deserves all the rest he can get.

As for Robert Sacre (7’0″ and 260 lbs), who averaged 11.6 points and 6.3 rebounds last season at Gonzaga, as a rookie, I doubt he’ll see any action on the floor unless it comes sparingly while Howard is still recovering from back surgery.

Final Thought – Mike Brown will have a “good problem” at the center position, because whatever he decides to do at this position will have an effect on the rest of the rotation.

Next Page: The Final Buzzer

Well I hope this article has been informative for those of you who may not have known all the new players on the roster, and at least sparked some debate and/or opinions on how the Lakers should utilize all of these guys for the rest of you that did.

After the Lakers acquired Steve Nash and Antawn Jamison earlier this summer, but before the Howard trade and subsequent transactions, I posed the question: “Are the Lakers off-season upgrades enough for a championship?” At the time, I reasoned that “yes,” the upgrades were enough to make them a contender because I felt they had the best starting lineup and enough role players for a short rotation to get it done.

Now, with the additions that took place afterwards, I am definitely convinced they have a championship-worthy team. Not only have the Lakers upgraded their starting lineup–which legitimately gives them the best starting lineup in the league–but they’ve upgraded their bench even more so.

It may not be the deepest team in the league, but I believe with the All-Star power this team has, many of the role players will–at times–look like All-Stars themselves.

If I had to guess, I’d say that Robert Sacre, Darius Johnson-Odom, and Darius Morris will be assigned to the D-League at the start of the season, or that the two rookies could even be cut in an effort to save as many pennies as possible for the Lakers after taking on such a high payroll.

As for the rest of the squad, I would bet that at least one backup of Steve Nash–either Steve Blake or Chris Duhon–would surely get consistent playing time along with the likes of Jodie Meeks and Antawn Jamison.

Early on, however, nothing would surprise me when it comes to coach Brown and I could realistically see him using a 10-man rotation to start the season in an effort to kind of feel things out. In this instance I would venture to say he’d bring out Devin Ebanks and Jordan Hill along with the rest of his second unit.

As long as he eventually finds a solid rotation that works–however many players may be in it–I wouldn’t see a problem with it.

Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss were extremely busy this off-season and brought in eight new players (two being rookies that may not make the team, to be fair), and retained the services of two more.

In doing so, they have given coach Brown options galore when it comes to his roster. With so many options and talent on his team, I can only imagine that he’s giddy just thinking about it.

Come autumn, we will finally get to witness what all of the off-season moves will form into.

For me, the season can’t come soon enough!