5. Adjustments & Individual Progress
Fine-tuning is always needed when players haven’t spent sufficient time sharing the court together. It’s especially important when a star like LeBron is brought on board. Above all else, his teammates needed time to understand how to adapt their games to his strengths, as he needed to learn theirs.
So far, the Lakers have made good progress adjusting to each other. In particular, James is trying to encourage and allow young teammates like Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball to find their own games playing alongside him.
• Kuzma has made the biggest strides, which is to be expected as he is more accustomed to playing off the ball. In particular, he has been on a scoring tear recently, raising his season average to 17.9 PPG. Kuz is finishing better than ever at the hoop. Fortunately, his 3-point stroke is starting to resemble the player who shot nearly 37 percent from deep as a rookie rather than the one who hovered around 30 percent for much of this season. And he has worked hard at becoming a better defender.
• Ingram has taken a little longer to come around, but his offense was also on the rise prior to spraining his ankle against the Spurs. He hit 50 percent or better from the field in seven7 of his last 10 games. At age 21, Brandon is somewhat of a late bloomer who is still learning just what he can accomplish and is only scratching the surface of his ability. Both Magic and LeBron recognize his talents and know how much he should help the Lakers moving forward.
• Fans need to watch Ball play rather than just read his stats in the box score to properly evaluate his performance. Both James and Chandler have recently mentioned the value he provides to his team. He’s also just 21, and knee surgery prevented him from working on his offense over the summer. He isn’t and may never be a big scorer but he emphasizes team success above all else. Among his biggest contributions is keeping the ball moving; he undoubtedly leads the team in the unofficial category of “hockey-style assists”.
• As for LeBron, his unique combination of strength, speed, power and agility remain unmatched and seemingly undaunted by time, at least so far. He turns 34 later this month but is still utterly unstoppable when he drives to the hoop and remains a first-rate passer. Fans may cringe when he takes (and usually misses) a fall-away 3-pointer early in the shot clock, but his overall marksmanship from deep has risen to a very respectable 36 percent.
James can still take over and turn around a game, as he’s already done against both Portland and San Antonio. Overall he is enjoying a typically great LeBron James season. The only slight blemish on his performance comes from the free throw line, where he is only shooting 71 percent.
The Lakers adjustment period is far from complete. The players have made great strides but the team still has quite a ways to go to improve both its offensive and defensive efficiency.