Editor’s note: This is the Wednesday, March 10 edition of the Purple & Bold Lakers newsletter from reporter Kyle Goon. To receive the newsletter in your inbox, sign up here.
NBA fans were greeted by the news on Wednesday that there are new jerseys being released for the second half of the season, and only one team has the gold Nike swoosh that signifies them as the defending champions.
The Lakers will be wearing black again, the color that in many ways defined their postseason run in 2020 when they ran rampant in their first four games when wearing the “Black Mamba” jerseys. But these uniforms, known as the “Earned” kits for the 16 teams who reached the playoffs last year, are a reminder that the Lakers are going to once again have to run through the gauntlet to get “my damn respect,” as LeBron James put it in October.
It’s hard to overemphasize: This will not be easy. The Lakers have one of the most difficult schedules in the league for their remaining 35 games, which includes a seven-game road trip and eight back-to-backs, mashing contests into a tight window before the playoffs open on May 18 with the play-in round. When we last saw the Lakers before the All-Star break, they were short-handed and looking particularly vulnerable dropping to third in the West.
Here are the questions that need answering for the second half of the season:
Can Anthony Davis get healthy again?
As the Lakers learned last year, A.D. maximizes what they can do as a championship-caliber team. Even though James was the Finals MVP, the contributions from Davis changed the complexion of the group. He was an unbeatable mid-range shooter, opening the Lakers’ offense in all kinds of ways. He embraced playing small-ball center, which unlocked the roster’s most mobile defensive lineups. He’s a classic ceiling-raiser, and without him the past month, the Lakers have struggled.
Even before Davis missed time with his Achilles injury, he was dragging, and there’s reason to believe that was bothering him for a while. He talked repeatedly about getting back to “the old A.D.,” the first-team All-NBA selection who led the Lakers in scoring last season, and who was the unquestioned tone-setter on defense. The Lakers would like to see that, too.
Davis’ preseason goals of becoming NBA Defensive Player of the Year and perhaps even making All-NBA might be over because of the time he has missed, but all will be right within the organization if their 28-year-old franchise big man can come back soon and at the level that made them a championship team last year. Potential matchups with DeAndre Ayton, Nikola Jokic and Rudy Gobert – not to mention Davis’ ability to defend on the perimeter – will require him to be at his peak.
Can the Lakers get their shooting back on track?
You might be well tired of hearing about it. The Lakers are tired of talking about it. But something has to give with the 3-point shooting that has tailed off to 35.1 percent, which ranks 24th in the league. The freefall has been downright strange, and it’s resulted in the Lakers being more hesitant to take 3-pointers: They’re now just 25th in the league in attempts per game (30.8).
Coach Frank Vogel has talked about a few different means of this, including getting better looks. The Lakers could do that: They’re in the bottom half of the league in percentage of what are considered open and wide-open looks (33.2 percent on 3-pointers, per NBA tracking data), and their catch-and-shoot attempts are also lagging behind most of the league.
But there’s something to be said for just hitting more of them: They’re only hitting 34 percent of open looks, and 37.6 percent of wide-open looks. They’re hitting just 36.1 percent of their catch-and-shoot 3-point opportunities, which is 24th in the league. Every shooter on the roster is capable of doing better, and as many of them have said, it’s a matter of trusting the work.
Who gets the nod for the playoff rotations?
Let’s assume these guys are trusted and true veterans from last season: LeBron, Davis, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma, Alex Caruso. Dennis Schröder is in, too (the 0-4 stretch without him was pretty telling). That leaves a few guys in the playing rotation who are still finding their roles come the postseason, which will have a dramatic push and pull on how certain guys get used as the Lakers saw last year with their centers.
In a nutshell for each remaining player:
– Marc Gasol is 36 and showing it, but he has a ton of playoff experience and, beyond A.D., he figures to be the best option (that the Lakers have right now, anyway) for defending true bigs.– Montrezl Harrell is a dynamo off the bench in the regular season, but Vogel’s reticence to play him in closing roles speaks to a trust gap that probably stems from his defense.– Wesley Matthews hasn’t worked out as hoped yet; maybe in the second half of the season, he can find more consistent shooting touch and therein consistent minutes.– Markieff Morris has a better case than Matthews, as a stretch big who can shoot and rebound while playing competent defense (and provide toughness).– Talen Horton-Tucker is a complete wild card – a dynamic playmaker and driver who isn’t ready for prime time on defense and can’t create spacing with his shooting.
Out of that group of five, probably three get to contribute regularly in the playoffs. Maybe even just two. There are not a lot of easy decisions, but Vogel and his staff have 35 games to begin sharpening the rotations to get ready to play those players in clearly defined roles.
Are there moves in the works?
Damian Jones is expected to sign a second 10-day contract, according to ESPN, which means the Lakers are buying time. Their best opportunity, as we laid out in the last newsletter, is that a discount comes in the buyout market. They’re low on trade capital. Unless Jones truly blows the socks off the front office in this next stint, they’re probably hoping something better becomes available.
What is better, in this case? Ideally, the Lakers might pluck a player like Cleveland’s Andre Drummond or Houston’s P.J. Tucker, both of whom provide needed skill-sets. If that’s a bit of a pipe dream, players like Hassan Whiteside might be available (at that point, maybe Jones, 25, is preferable). It’s hard to project the buyout and trade market until players become available but bet on the Lakers to look for shooting, defense and a potential lob threat/shot-blocker who helps fill the role that Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee occupied last year.
How much will burnout drag on the Lakers?
Of all the burning questions, this might be No. 1. Take it seriously (and not as lip service) when someone like Markieff Morris says: “I’m mentally drained. I know a lot of guys on my team is mentally drained.” The Lakers are tired.
Too bad. The schedule will pit them against Utah twice, Phoenix twice and the Clippers twice. They’ll see Philadelphia and Milwaukee and have to travel to Miami and Brooklyn. They’ll have eight back-to-backs after just five in the first half of the season.
The big question is how the Lakers choose to handle these things: James, who has seen his dreams for a fifth regular-season MVP award fade in the last couple of weeks, will have to balance his desire to play every night versus the importance of keeping his 36-year-old body fresh come May. Davis will have to ramp up enough to come back from his injury, but not enough to reaggravate it. There might be a lot of second-half nights like the game the Lakers played in Sacramento, with Kuzma, Schröder and Harrell mopping up big minutes without the stars.
It’s all a question of how the headliners, the coaches and the front office want to play it. Can you keep a keen edge for the postseason while running yourselves into the ground during the regular season? Perhaps more than any other team, the Lakers will find themselves tested on that front.
— Kyle Goon
Editor’s note: Thanks for reading the Purple & Bold Lakers newsletter from reporter Kyle Goon. To receive the newsletter in your inbox, sign up here.
Re-start your engines
- Still perfect – Team LeBron was a winner again in the All-Star Game.
- From the commish – Adam Silver found himself addressing a number of hot topics.
- A more detailed buyout/trade deadline guide – Our last newsletter touched on the hurdles facing the Lakers as they hope to add a meaningful piece to the group.
- A short-handed finisher – It was actually a nail-biter in Sacramento despite the diminished roster.
- A rest at last – Frank Vogel offered the rationale for resting LeBron in the last game before the break, as well as other coaching decisions.
- All-Star lineup – The story from LeBron picking his team when we first asked: Could this be win No. 4?
- Outshined – The Suns were able to leap on an injury-riddled Lakers squad needing the break.
- Gasol in quarantine – It’s the latest absence as the Lakers battle their rash of missing guys.
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