3 positives of the tough stretch the Los Angeles Lakers are facing
It forces the remaining players to step up
It is obviously hard for a team to lose at the same time both its driving forces. You suddenly find yourself with a bunch of people put together not to build the core of a system, but to surround and fit a center of gravity that is missing.
The team needs to find a new identity and understand who the new alphas can be, those who have the ability to take the lead carry it in the place of the missing leaders.
It is often a self-discovery journey for the players themselves, who figure out what they can be under different circumstances, and learn they have the strength and skills to play a new role, a different and important one.
Since LeBron James got hurt many of the key rotation guys have improved their production compared to their season averages, while others have stepped up in bigger roles.
As the starting point guard, Dennis Schröder probably had to take the biggest burden both as a leader and in production. His numbers rose to 19.6 points, 6.8 assists and 2.2 steals per game, while shooting 41.7 percent from three.
He already knows what it takes to lead a team from his time in Atlanta and this is probably his best chance to prove he deserves the money he is asking for his next contract. The German guard has every reason to bring out the best of his game in this moment.
Kyle Kuzma just got an extension from the Lakers and is now proving that he totally deserved it. The pride of LA’s front office, stolen with a late first-round pick and developed into an NBA champion, is the scoring threat he promised to be since his rookie year and is making strides on the defensive end as well year after year, showing tremendous commitment.
Since taking LeBron’s place in the starting lineup his averages went from 12.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists to 15.8, 8.8 and 4.8. Scoring lowered by a bad four-point night, balanced, though, by a season-high 7 assists.
Despite what has been said and written so far about Montrezl Harrell’s season and impact on the team, this writer considers him to be a valuable and crucial contributor to the Lakers’ success this season, and his numbers show how mightily he stepped up when the team has been in need of solidity. 20.6 and 9 with 1 block per game, shooting a highly accurate 64.1 percent from the field.
Even on the defensive end, where he gets so much maligned since last year’s capitulation against current MVP favorite Nikola Jokic, he is making a respectable job, giving his best effort with charges drawn and blocked shots.
After a key contribution in last year’s championship run, Markieff Morris’s intake had been meaningless for the first half of this season, as well as his minutes on the floor not so substantial, also collecting several DNPs.
Looking back, if it was not the for the veteran minimum contract he agreed on, he would not have been worth to be brought back. But suddenly, the Morris twin found his role grow significantly when AD injured his calf, and he experienced an unexpected, though very welcomed, rebirth in purple and gold.
Since becoming a full-time starter his numbers have increased to an unexpected 9.7 points and 6.5 rebounds per game sparked by a good 37.5 percent from the arc. From a a possible waive candidate, he turned himself in a key rotation player, hopefully on the way to repeat what he did in last year’s playoffs.
Although team results struggle to come, what it counts is the path of every individual. The way they find to improve singularly will make them a better team once everyone will be back and the team complete as a whole.