Los Angeles Lakers: Less is more for LeBron James

How will the Los Angeles Lakers deploy their newest superstar, LeBron James?

It seems like everyone on the planet, even if they’re not a basketball fan, has heard that LeBron James signed with the Los Angeles Lakers.

What does that really say about James? What does it mean for him and the Lakers? How can LeBron best help the team?

To begin with, it’s apparent that as he entered free agency, winning a championship in 2019 was not James’ primary objective. If it was, he would have signed instead with a team like Houston or Philadelphia, each of which is ready to contend now. Had he joined either the Rockets or 76ers, he might have been in a position to dethrone the Warriors next year.

But the Lakers are almost certainly not ready to challenge yet. Their roster will contain at least eight players (returnees Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart and Ivica Zubac along with rookies Mo Wagner, Svi Mykhailiuk and Isaac Bonga) who have not yet played a single NBA playoff game. Barring injury or trade, at least the first four players will all log major minutes this coming season.

LeBron knows this situation well, so he obviously understands and accepts that his most important role this coming season is to help fast-track the development of the young Lakers core. If he is successful, the team might then be ready to challenge for the title in the not-too-distant future, perhaps as early as 2020.

How can James best accomplish that? Over his 15-year NBA career, he has been a prolific scorer, averaging 27.2 points per game. In every year other than his rookie year, he’s averaged over 25 points. Last year, at age 33, he averaged 27.5 points and then 34 PPG in 22 playoff games.

In the process, he has already played the most postseason minutes in NBA history and is nearing the top 10 in total minutes played for the regular season and playoffs combined.

For the Lakers to grow into contenders, does LeBron, at age 34, need to replicate the same kind of point production he’s delivered the past 14 years?

The answer, in a nutshell, is no, almost certainly not. Last year on Cleveland, James HAD to do everything for the team to win. He virtually had to strap his teammates on his back and carry them to the finish line.

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But this Lakers team is a much different breed. They have a squad full of young, energetic, talented players who haven’t yet reached their prime, and who are learning what it takes to win, game by game. They can certainly absorb much by watching James in action. Yet we all know there is no substitute for doing things on our own. The best way to master something is to do it by yourself, preferably repeatedly.

There has been chatter that James will set up more often in the post instead of demanding the ball on the wing as soon as it crosses midcourt. But if James wants the team to grow as quickly as possible, he must be prepared to change the way he plays in a more fundamental way.

LeBron needs to willingly surrender some degree of control so that Ball and Ingram have the freedom to create plays for themselves and their teammates. He also must allow (and possibly help) Ingram and Kuzma, who each averaged 16.1 PPG last season, develop into even bigger scoring threats. In other words, the best way that he can help the Lakers move forward is by doing LESS rather than more.

At this point in his career, James should welcome the opportunity to be able to relax on multiple possessions and conserve energy. As a result, he would save considerable wear and tear on his body, which in turn might also lengthen his career, or at least perhaps extend his high level of play for a longer time.

What does that mean about LeBron’s production? Until we see how all the players mesh together, there is no way to know with certainty. Certainly, he’ll have a better array of scorers surrounding him than he’s experienced for a long time, maybe ever. So it’s possible that his scoring average will drop this season, perhaps to his lowest amount since his rookie year, and his shot attempts, which have averaged nearly 20 per game, could also decrease.

Another result could harken back to the Lakers Showtime era. Fans may recall that Magic Johnson often spent most of the first three-quarters of a game setting up his teammates. Then, in the final quarter, when the game on the line and it was “winning time”, Magic took control and, more often than not, led his team to victory. Perhaps that’s a role James will play this season.

That leads to one of the more intriguing, fascinating possible storylines to watch this year. Lakers Coach Luke Walton usually follows the example of his mentor, Steve Kerr, and finishes games with his best five players on the court, employing a “small-ball” lineup with an undersized center.

Last year Walton used either Julius Randle, who rather, unfortunately, the team let walk away as a free agent or Larry Nance Jr, who was traded at mid-season, as the small-ball 5. At this point, the Lakers have no first-rate center on the roster. So it is even more likely that Walton will go small. And the best candidate by far for their small-ball center is none other than LeBron James!

There’s no way to know yet how he will feel about playing center. And the Lakers probably wouldn’t ask him to do it against a dominant big man opponent. But a crunch-time lineup of James, Ingram and Kuzma in the frontcourt and some combination of Ball, Hart, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Rajon Rondo in the backcourt will be very difficult for the opposition to guard. Defensively, the Lakers should be able to switch on every screen as effectively as any team in the league.

This season should be fun to watch for so many reasons. But the way LeBron decides to interact on the court with the young Lakers will provide a clue about their prospects to contend for a title starting as soon as 2020.

Next: 5 Reasons To Love The LeBron James Signing

All statistics courtesy of www.basketball-reference.com