Recent Los Angeles Lakers rumors involve LeBron James, as the team plans to limit him during the preseason.
Los Angeles Lakers rumors have ramped back up with the 2019-20 season officially getting underway. The Lakers already began training camp this past weekend as they prepare for some preseason games over in China.
Through the first few days of practice, we have learned a few things. Avery Bradley is receiving a ton of praise from everyone, whether it be head coach Frank Vogel or his teammates, for his performance defensively.
Defense has been the topic of discussion through the first few days, as that is what the team is focusing on early and often in workouts. Dwight Howard is confident that the Lakers will be the best defensive team in the league, and with all of the players they have that excel on that end of the court, they have a chance.
We also saw a glimpse of what lineup combinations Vogel may use in the early going. These will undoubtedly change in the coming days and weeks, as injured players such as Kyle Kuzma get worked back into the lineup. However, it was interesting to see who Vogel may rely on at the start of things.
One player we know Vogel will be relying on this upcoming season is LeBron James. This team will only go as far as James and Anthony Davis take them. However, don’t expect to see James much during the exhibition season.
During a presser, Vogel let it be known that James won’t play a ton in the preseason. The goal for the team is for him to build chemistry with his teammates, but they will be smart about how many minutes he actually plays.
Frank Vogel says LeBron James will play "not a ton" this preseason. Enough to gain chemistry and flow with teammates, but the Lakers want to "be intelligent" in how they use him before the regular season. pic.twitter.com/jxX9fQOo52
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) September 29, 2019
This approach makes a lot of sense for the Lakers. James is entering his 17th season in the NBA and suffered the first bad injury of his career last season. Limiting his reps in games that don’t mean anything is the smart thing to do.
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James was already held out of practice on Monday, so you know the team is taking the workload management seriously.
Expect this to be something they monitor throughout the season as well. With the supporting cast on the roster, they should be able to find spots to rest James throughout the season. Load management was made popular by Kawhi Leonard and it worked for the Toronto Raptors. Teams will look to emulate that plan.
This early in the process, it makes sense to ease people back into things. However, it may be difficult to keep LeBron on the sidelines. James just had his longest offseason in 13 years, so you know he is rearing to get back out there and show the world he has not lost a step as many people believe he has.
While he won’t play heavy minutes, expect James to at least get some run when the team plays overseas. Those games are all about fan engagement and building the NBA and it is not easy to do that if the best, most notable players are on the sidelines.
Expect the Lakers to truly scale James back once they return stateside to play.