This season, the Los Angeles Lakers’ starting lineup has been a strange, rotating game of “who’s in, who’s out.” Byron Scott has tried different combinations, none of which have worked due primarily to the overall lack of talent on the team. Some adjustments were the result of Scott never knowing from night to night whether Kobe Bryant would be available. However, Scott will no longer have to worry about that, as Bryant will undergo season-ending surgery to repair his injured shoulder.
Blue Man Hoop
With this team, it probably makes no difference who starts because the Lakers will be hard pressed to win any more games the rest of the season. Still, it is time for Scott to create at least a measure of stability and consistency, two things he has failed to do so far. This requires making a decision about who are the starters on the team, a choice which should be guided by a combination of planning for next year while hopefully allowing the Lakers to avoid the total humiliation they have experienced in recent games where the outcome was known after the first five minutes.
Here is a list of who started most of the games, who is starting now, and who should be starting the rest of the season. Of course, this assumes none of the current players will depart by the trading deadline.
CENTER:
Who Had Been Starting: Jordan Hill
Who Is Starting Now: Robert Sacre
Who Should Be Starting: Ed Davis
We can all agree that Sacre should not be a starter on this or any other team. Hill should be starting, but not at the center position. On offense, he has become a mid-range jump shooter, which, combined with his work on the defensive end, makes him more of a power forward. That is the position he has really been playing this season, even when he was listed as the center.
On the other hand, Davis plays under or near the basket at all times. He is the best rim protector on the squad. He alters shots, and he rebounds on both ends of the floor. He is undersized for a true center, but Davis’ skillset at this point makes him more of a natural center than a power forward. As one of the younger players on the team, he deserves to start at center the rest of this season.
POWER FORWARD:
Who Had Been Starting: Carlos Boozer; Ed Davis
Who is Starting Now: Jordan Hill
Who Should be Starting: Jordan Hill
This is the easiest choice. Hill is not perfect, but he has been the best player on the team this year. He developed an effective mid-range jump shot this past offseason which has made him a more versatile player. While playing away from the basket makes it harder for him to grab offensive rebounds, his specialty in prior years, he battles hard on the defensive end. Hill is the Lakers’ most attractive asset for trade purposes, so he may be shipped out in exchange for a first round draft choice which better suits the Lakers’ future. Still, if he is around, he has earned the right to start the rest of the season.
SMALL FORWARD:
Who Had Been starting: Wesley Johnson
Who is Starting Now: Ryan Kelly
Who Should be Starting: Wesley Johnson
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This position is Johnson’s by default. There really are no other small forwards on the roster. There is no point repeating what has been written over and over about Johnson – that he has great potential which will never be realized – but his game has slightly improved this year both defensively and on the offensive end where his outside shot has become somewhat more consistent.
Watching seven-foot Kelly play small forward the past few games has been painful. Whether he has talent or not, which is yet to be determined, you just can’t put a square peg in a round hold. As for Nick Young, there is another position better suited for his talents, as explained below.
SHOOTING GUARD:
Who Had Been Starting: Kobe Bryant
Who Is Starting Now: Wayne Ellington
Who Should Be Starting: Nick Young
Young is a shooting guard who has played small forward the past two seasons because of the needs of the team and, at least this season, because Bryant was around to play shooting guard. Bryant is gone now, and the Lakers are in serious need of someone to provide consistent big time scoring. It is time for Young to assert himself and to break the myth that he can only play effectively off the bench.
Ellington has shown signs of being a good role player. He has displayed a nice, if inconsistent, outside shot and he is capable of creating a shot for himself. However, he is better coming off the bench.
POINT GUARD:
Who Had Been Starting: Ronnie Price, Jeremy Lin
Who is Starting Now: Jordan Clarkson
Who Should be Starting: Jeremy Lin
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It has been unimaginable (and frustrating) to most Laker fans that Price has been the starting point guard for most of the season. Much has been written about how disappointing Lin has been, and it is true. Still, he deserves to be the starter on this team. He can score on some nights, facilitate on other nights, and while his defense is not great, he tries hard and does have games where he makes a couple of steals. Lin gets a lot of criticism, much of it unfair. His own coach labels him soft, but anyone who has seen Lin, time and time again, throw his body into the lane towards the basket, only to be slammed to the floor (usually without getting the call), would dispute the coach’s assessment. Lin is not soft, he is just not as talented as we all hoped. It may not be saying much, but he is the best point guard on the roster, by far.
Of course, Laker fans hope that Clarkson is the point guard of the future. Clarkson needs to play a solid 20 minutes per game, but since the Lakers wasted half the season keeping him on the bench, he needs to be eased onto the court a bit. Better to have him compete for the moment against the other team’s backup point guard than immediately forcing him to play against Damien Lillard, Steph Curry, Russell Westbook, Tony Parker, Eric Bledsoe, Goran Dragic, Ty Lawson, and the other incredible point guards around the league. Clarkson’s recent performance against the Houston Rockets was cringe-worthy and embarrassing, and you don’t want to destroy his confidence by forcing him to do things before he is ready.
In sum, the Lakers starting line-up should be Davis, Hill, Johnson, Young, and Lin. That doesn’t mean they deserve all the minutes, however. In particular, the young players – Clarkson, Kelly, and Tarik Black — need to get significant playing time off the bench.
Next: Los Angeles Lakers: 5 Trade Candidates for the NBA Trade Deadline