Max ChristieBart Young/NBAE via Getty Images
While the Los Angeles Lakers won’t officially open training camp until early October, it appears their roster for the 2023-24 season is nearly set. It doesn’t quite look like the roster many fans might have expected a few short months ago, though.
Heading into the offseason, it wasn’t hard to find buzz about the Lakers adding a third start like Kyrie Irving or Chris Paul to partner with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. However, L.A. has gone in a different direction, instead adding role players like Jaxson Hayes, Gabe Vincent and Taurean Prince while retaining key contributors.
James and Davis are still going to be the foundation of Los Angeles’ roster this season, but it seems Rob Pelinka and the front office have prioritized depth over star power. Recent rumors are painting a clear picture as to why.
The Lakers, it would seem, are looking to give themselves an incredible amount of lineup versatility this season. It starts with James—who can fill virtually any role on the court—and forward/center Davis and runs through potential rotational pieces like summer league standout Max Christie.
“If he can continue to develop as a shot creator and playmaker, he has a chance to carve out a significant role given his 3-point shooting and defensive ability,” The Athletic’s Jovan Buha wrote. “The Lakers are confident he can grow into being the team’s eighth or ninth man next season.”
If the Lakers do indeed have a reliable 3-and-D player that deep in the rotation, they’re going to be a matchup problem for opposing teams this season. With James and Davis on the court, L.A. will have myriad lineup possibilities.
These include using more two-big lineups, something the team did en route to a title in the 2019-20 season.
According to Buha, the Lakers are confident Hayes “can start and play a prominent role with Davis in two-big lineups.”
The addition of Vincent gives L.A. other options. He can rotate with returning point guard D’Angelo Russell and bring an entirely different skill set when he’s on the floor. Russell is a good distributor and can score points in bunches, but Vincent is a better defender and a reasonable three-point shooter (33.9 percent career rate).
Coach Darvin Ham can lean on Vincent’s defense to help close out games or pair him with Christie to put two 3-and-D players around James and Davis, who are going to command attention inside.
James, Russell and Vincent can all serve as ball-handlers, and the Lakers appear likely to use budding star Austin Reaves in that role as well.
“The Lakers plan on running more of their offense through Reaves next season, unlocking the point guard skills he’s flashed through his first two years in the league,” Buha wrote on July 1.
With players such as Jarrad Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura and Cam Reddish also in the mix, Ham should be able to find a lineup to suit virtually any scenario. The Lakers’ depth and varied skill sets should also allow L.A. to better preserve James and Davis for the postseason.
Reducing the number of minutes James and Davis play in the regular season was, presumably, the reason behind the Lakers’ ill-fated trade for Russell Westbrook two offseasons ago.
In theory, rotating the three stars should have allowed L.A. to keep at least two mismatch players on the court while the third rested. With the current roster, the Lakers can achieve the same goal without sacrificing depth or team chemistry.
If, for example, the Lakers want to rest James, they could go with a grouping of Vincent, Reaves, Christie, Davis and Hayes and still generate mismatch opportunities. If Davis is on the bench, a lineup of Russell, Reaves, James, Hachimura and Hayes is still plenty potent.
The regular season is a grind, and if the Lakers don’t need to lean on James and Davis for 40 minutes per game to get through it, they’ll be ahead of the pack come playoff time.
The Lakers won’t head into the regular season as one of the league’s most star-studded teams. However, they’ll be better equipped than most squads to maximize the starts they have, get to the postseason healthy and make the necessary adjustments to succeed in series play once they get there.
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