Los Angeles Lakers have plan to manage LeBron James’ minutes

The Los Angeles Lakers have a plan in place to help manage LeBron James’ minutes in the upcoming season.

Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton will have his hands full this upcoming season. Walton has overseen improvements in Los Angeles, as they have increased their win total from the previous season in his first two seasons. This season, however, things are changing.

The Lakers are expected to not only increase their wins for a third straight season but snap their playoff drought as well. That is what happens when you add LeBron James to your roster.

The Lakers landed James in free agency, speeding up their rebuild. All of their young players are still on the roster, but their growth will be accelerated with James around. Another nine-win increase is not only likely but expected.

To make the postseason, the Lakers will probably need closer to 12-15 win increase. 44 wins would have only moved the Lakers up one spot from the 11th to 10th seed. When James joins a new team, they always improve, so Los Angeles has that working for them. However, going on 34-years old, things will be a little different this season.

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James continued his dominance over the NBA last season despite his age. He played all 82 games, leading the NBA in minutes played for the second consecutive season. That is something the Lakers cannot have happen if they want to make the most of his four-year contract.

That seems to be something the organization has already planned for. While making an appearance on ESPN 710’s “An Evening with the Lakers,” Walton gave some insights to what the team has prepared.

"We’ve talked about the idea of it (James sitting out some games) and I’ll be in constant communication with him all year long. If it’s a night off, if it’s a back-to-back, whatever it is. If it’s practice, preferably if he’s going to take something off, take a practice off to stay fresh.But we’ve got him here for four years, and we want to be competing every single year that he’s here. If we do play him less minutes or he gets a night off, that’s a great opportunity for other players, some of the young guys so it’ll be an ongoing thing, a feel out thing as far as minutes or whether he’s going to take this game off or that game off."

Given the depth that the Lakers have, they should be able to stay the course should James sit out here and there or need more rest in a given game. Too often in recent seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers, their performance would crater without James on the court. That forced the coaching staff’s hands to play James heavy minutes or the team wouldn’t win games.

A drop off is expected with James off the court; he is the best player on the team. Keeping that drop off to a minimum is what is important.

With other ball handlers such as Lonzo Ball and Rajon Rondo on the team, and other forwards such as Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Michael Beasley that can help carry the scoring load, the Lakers should be able to stay afloat when James needs a rest.

While James continues to defy logic and hold off Father Time, it is something that will inevitably hit. If Los Angeles can successfully handle his minutes, they can help hold off Father Time for a little while longer to help the team win.