The Los Angeles Lakers should begin evaluating some younger talent with the playoffs being unlikely.
The Los Angeles Lakers have essentially been knocked out of playoff contention with recent losses to the Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets. Currently, the Lakers sit 6.5 games behind the eighth seeded Utah Jazz.
Even if the Lakers pull off a double-digit win streak, the teams ahead of them would need to lose a lot. With stiff competition in the Western Conference for playoff contention, that doesn’t seem likely.
Only 1.5 games separate the 4th and 10th seed in the West. The Lakers are unlikely to join in this race with the last few weeks left. With their hopes of the playoffs gone, they can now focus on next year. The remaining 17 games should be used to give more minutes to younger players and audition potential pieces for next year.
Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka have been deciding how to build next year’s roster for some time. They desire to sign two max-level free agents this summer. Though, they are also preparing for the possibility of signing zero max-level free agents. If Magic and Pelinka cannot convince top free agents like LeBron James to sign with them, then they will need to fill out their roster with other available free agents.
More from Lake Show Life
- Darvin Ham adds to Max Christie hype train after Lakers preseason opener
- Is LeBron James playing tonight? Latest Lakers vs Warriors update
- Can Darvin Ham put all of the Lakers puzzle pieces together?
- Lakers news: Darvin Ham knows his fifth starter, LeBron James and Rui Hachimura, Jalen Hood-Schifino praise
- Michael Malone’s painfully ironic comment has Lakers fans heated
An alternative is bringing back current players. With 17 games left in the season, an audition for current players is a good idea. Giving bigger minutes to some players will help the organization determine who is worthy of returning to the Lakers for the 2018-2019 season.
Since the Lakers have been eliminated from the playoffs, they should give more minutes to bench players to evaluate them. Though the NBA recently announced it would take action against teams visibly tanking, the Lakers can’t be accused of such. Since L.A. does not own its first-round pick in this year draft, no amount of losing will better their draft prospects this year. The organization should feel free to play bench players more and not be accused of tanking since they don’t have to worry about winning.
The organization has not said much about its plans for upcoming free agents like Brook Lopez, Isaiah Thomas and others. Though, the organization knows already what they will get out of these players if they are brought back next year.
Lopez is a non-athletic stretch-five center who can miraculously score 27 point but grab ZERO rebounds. Thomas is a high-volume shooter who is owns a poor 37.4 field goal percentage for the season. Thomas is also a major defensive liability, being the victim of pick-and-roll offensive schemes in every game. These players have played enough minutes for the organization to clearly evaluate them. It is time for players like Ivica Zubac and Thomas Bryant to see extra minutes.
If they perform well, each of these younger players can be brought back on a cheap deal for next year. Both Zubac and Thomas have non-guaranteed deals for next season. Per Spotrac.com, they can both return next season if their deals are picked up for $1.5 million and $1.4 million, respectively.
In limited minutes, Zubac has shown some promise. While only averaging eight minutes per game, he’s shot an impressive 51.6 percent from the field and 83.3 percent from the line, per Basketball Reference. Also, per 36 minutes, Zubac is averaging 15.7 points and 10 rebounds. Expanding his playing time will let the Lakers see if increased playing time correlates with increased production.
For Thomas Bryant, it is time to see more playing time for the rookie. Fans haven’t gotten to see much of him since he’s only appeared in 10 games. He’s played 3.3 minutes a game so far and averaged 1.1 points while shooting 33.3 percent from the field.
Because he mostly plays in garbage time of games, his poor stats reflect his inability to get meaningful minutes. However, his G-League averages have been great. Bryant looks like he may be able to produce at an NBA level if given time. For the South Bay Lakers, Bryant averages 30.2 minutes, 19.2 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting an impressive 59.1 percent per G-League.NBA.com.
Players like Zubac and Bryant have cheap and friendly contracts for next year. It is the time of the season to begin to hand minutes over from players who most likely won’t return next season, like Lopez or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, to younger players like Zubac and Bryant.
Next: Lakers 10 Greatest Draft Picks of All-Time
The Lakers young core extends to players like Zubac and Bryant who were solid second round picks. Developing these players should be the focus of the organization to determine whether to bring these two back next year on cheap contracts.