Los Angeles Lakers News: Head coach Luke Walton wants to see Larry Nance Jr. let loose offensively.
In recent Los Angeles Lakers news, head coach Luke Walton touched on the team’s offensive performance. The Lakers are riding a two-game winning streak, getting victories on the first two games of their road trip. However, the offense still remains a work in progress.
The Lakers have a few players that have excelled offensively this season. Brandon Ingram has taken a big step forward offensively in his second season from his rookie campaign. Jordan Clarkson is a scoring machine off the bench despite playing fewer than 23 minutes per game. Rookie Kyle Kuzma scores at will, averaging 16 points per game.
While there are talented offensively players, the product, overall, hasn’t been great. The Lakers are averaging 16.7 turnovers per game, which is the second-worst mark in the NBA. Only the Philadelphia 76ers at 17 turnovers per game is worse. The Lakers are last in 3-point percentage, making only 31.9 percent from deep.
The Lakers offensive rating is 102.2 according to Basketball-Reference, which ranks 28th in the NBA. It has been a huge surprise that the Lakers offense is struggling to this level. Last season, their struggles came defensively, where they are much improved this season. While the Lakers are 28th in offensive rating, they are 10th in defensive rating.
Improving the offense won’t be easy. However, head coach Luke Walton believes some of the issues can be alleviated by Larry Nance Jr.
In a tweet from Bill Oram, he relays Walton wanting to see Nance Jr. let loose offensively.
Luke Walton said he wants to see Larry Nance be more “reckless.” How often do you hear that? But he wants Nance and “let loose a little more” on offense.
— Bill Oram (@billoram) December 9, 2017
Aggressiveness offensively is something some of the Lakers currently lack. In addition to Nance Jr., Lonzo Ball also lacks aggression at times. However, Ball impacts the offense in a positive manner given his playmaking and passing ability. Nance Jr., on the other hand, doesn’t bring many positives to the offense.
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Nance Jr. doesn’t have much range on his jump shot. He has attempted only 13 shots outside of 16-feet all season according to Basketball-Reference. Now, Walton doesn’t want Nance Jr. just launching shots, but seeing more aggression on that side of the ball would be welcomed.
Julius Randle hasn’t shot well outside of 16-feet either, but he attacks the basket relentlessly. It is something that the Lakers could benefit from seeing Nance Jr. do a little more often as well.
Nance Jr. is known for his defensive skills, but he has to bring something offensively. However, the difference on that end of the court has not been substantial enough to make up for his lack of offense.
Thus far this season, the Lakers rating is 5.6 points better with Nance Jr. on the bench than on the court. If he could loosen up and be a little more reckless offensively, those numbers could improve.
Nance is a part of six of the Lakers top 20 five-man combinations in minutes played. Of those six, only one of them is positive. No four, three or two-man combinations are positive in the top-20 that include Nance Jr.
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That is cause for concern for the Lakers and something they will keep an eye on going forward. The Lakers have to hope that Nance Jr. can begin impacting the game more offensively, or a lineup change could be in store once again.