Los Angeles Lakers: 5 steps to building a contender with Kyrie Irving

1. Have clearly defined roles for both Irving and Lonzo Ball

The great teams in the NBA make it clear what each player is expected to focus on. Each championship caliber team throughout NBA history typically has two bona fide stars, and other than that, everyone is a role player who is told to focus on one or two things that they excel at. This type of leadership structure results in a championship puzzle where the pieces fit together well.

Irving and Ball may not both end up in the starting lineup, but you could expect both to be on the court for a reasonable amount of time. When that happens, Ball should be the main ballhandler. When he decides to play with initiative and aggression, he can push the ball up the court at a very fast pace and with thrust.

This Laker team, with the core it has, must continue to play fastbreak basketball if they’re serious about becoming an elite team again. The league and its style of play have changed considerably since they won their last world championship in 2010.

Whenever they don’t have anything in transition, that’s when the ball should go to Irving right away to first probe and look for a quick hitter in semi-transition, and if not, to initiate the set offense. With his elite ball handling, passing, shot creating and shot making skills, Irving would make a huge impact on the Lakers right away.

This type of arrangement between Irving and Ball will also take the load off of LeBron James. Which takes us to the next step: