So far this season, the Los Angeles Lakers have done a nice job staggering the minutes of their two stars. Frank Vogel says this will continue to be the plan moving forward.
The Los Angeles Lakers are off to a very strong start to the season after a great summer.
After trading for Anthony Davis this summer, expectations were high for the Lakers to start the season. Adding another superstar next to LeBron James has provided the Lakers with one of the best duos in the NBA.
So far, the decision to trade for Davis looks like a great one. He and James have already built a nice chemistry on and off the court together. While the two have produced well on the court together, the Lakers have been staggering their minutes so far.
Some coaches like to do this with their two best players, as it doesn’t allow the opponent to get any easy breaks. Frank Vogel has been doing this with James and Davis, and it doesn’t appear like that will be changing anytime soon. Here’s what Vogel said about staggering the minutes of Davis and LeBron to Christian Rivas of Silver Screen and Roll.
"“Ideally,” Vogel said of whether he intends to regularly stagger James and Davis. “And I think when Rajon (Rondo) comes back, we’ll have the mindset that he can quarterback the offense with anybody that’s out there, but for last night I wanted to try to have one of those guys out there as much as possible.”"
With two superstars and elite offensive players, having James or Davis on the court at all times is certainly a wise move. Whether it be James or Davis against the bench units of other teams, it really isn’t fair a good chunk of the time.
While Vogel will continue to be staggering the minutes, he is waiting for the team to get fully healthy before he sets a rotation. Kyle Kuzma will be returning against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday in a limited capacity, but Rajon Rondo is still out.
Even though the rotation isn’t set quite yet, the Lakers have been performing well. When we see them at full health, they will appear like they have the potential to be one of the best teams in the league.