Los Angeles Lakers: 3 rules the front office must follow this offseason
2. Build a modern offensive system and sign players over the offseason accordingly
During the 2018-2019 NBA season, the Lakers offensive identity consisted of running hard in transition and dumping the ball to LeBron in half-court situations.
The Lakers offense wasn’t great when LeBron was on the court, but when he got injured LA’s offensive rating cratered to the bottom of the league. It would be incredibly stupid for the Lakers front office to build the entire offense around LeBron once again, because he’s too old to put a team on his back and march through the playoffs like he did when he was younger (and as I said in the last section he’ll likely suffer another injury).
The four best teams in the NBA during the 2018-2019 playoffs have been the Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, and Houston Rockets.
All four teams have worked off of the same basic principle on offense throughout the playoffs: They use their two best player’s gravity to create an open look for their elite outside shooters.
- The Golden State Warriors have run their offense through Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant.
- The Milwaukee Bucks have run their offense through Giannis Antetokounmpo or Eric Bledsoe
- The Toronto Raptors have run their offense through Kawhi Leonard or Kyle Lowry
- The Houston Rockets ran their offense through James Harden or Chris Paul
The Lakers are also blessed with two players in Brandon Ingram and LeBron James who can get to the rim at will and who are also capable of pulling in defenders and freeing up space for outside shooters.
Here are LeBron James and Brandon Ingram’s 2018-2019 points off of drives:
- LeBron James: 8.3 points off of drives per game (13th in the NBA)
- Brandon Ingram: 6.7 points off of drives per game (27th in the NBA)
Here are LeBron James and Brandon Ingram’s field goal percentages at the rim:
- LeBron James: 76% from 0-3 feet
- Brandon Ingram: 68% from 0-3 feet
The Lakers should build their offense around James and Ingram’s ability to drive to the rim and finish.
During the offseason, Rob Pelinka should only sign free agents who can work off of James and Ingram, which shrinks the list of realistic free agent players the Lakers can target.
- The Lakers shouldn’t sign Jimmy Butler, because he replicates what Ingram does.
- The Lakers shouldn’t sign De’Andre Jordan, because he can’t shoot from outside.
- The Lakers shouldn’t sign DeMarcus Cousins, because he can’t shoot from outside.
The Lakers would love to ink Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leanord, or Kyrie Irving to long term deals, but there’s little chance they’d come to play for the Purple and Gold, therefore the Lakers should make signing Nikola Vucevic their top priority. He shot 38% from deep last year and he can also score out of the post when things break down on offense for LA.
Then the Lakers should sign either Marcus Morris (38 3P% in 2018-2019) or Nikola Mirotic (37 3P% in 2018-2019) to play starting power forward because both players can light it up from deep.
The Lakers would then be counting on Lonzo Ball to form the last piece of the puzzle on offense. Lonzo Ball must work on his 3-point stroke during the offseason, so he that he can keep defenders honest.
Don’t scoff at Lonzo’s ability to improve his shot during the offseason. He worked on his 3-point shot last summer and his percentage went up from his rookie year.
- 2017-2018: 30 3P%
- 2018-2019: 33 3P%
If the Lakers add Nikola Vucevic and either Marcus Morris or Nikola Mirotic over the offseason and also select De’Andre Hunter with the No. 4 pick in the draft, here’s what their opening day lineup would look like:
Starters:
- Lonzo Ball
- Brandon Ingram
- LeBron James
- Marcus Morris or Nikola Mirotic
- Nikola Vucevic
Bench:
- Alex Caruso
- Josh Hart
- De’Andre Hunter
- Kyle Kuzma
- Moritz Wagner
That’s not a sexy lineup, but that’s a team that will have a real identity on offense and that would also be a top-10 defensive squad in the NBA.