The Los Angeles Lakers have played nine games without LeBron James, who suffered a high ankle sprain on March 20 against the Atlanta Hawks. Counting the game that LeBron got hurt, the Lakers are 4-6 without LeBron James.
Some players have stepped up and some players have played poorly. There is a sizeable hole without LeBron and Anthony Davis that simply won’t be filled, but this was a chance for certain players to really take the reins.
That has not happened for these three players.
Los Angeles Lakers who have struggled without LeBron James:
1. Kyle Kuzma
Kyle Kuzma was the main player that everyone was circling when LeBron James got hurt. He was wrongly tagged as the third-best player on the team last season and after a disappointing year, started really promising this season in a lesser role.
This provided an opportunity for Kuzma to really blossom as the main scorer. He has not done that whatsoever. He has scored the third-most points for the Lakers in this nine-game stretch but it has come via some really inefficient shooting.
Kuzma has attempted 136 shots the last nine games, which is by far the most on the team. Dennis Schroder is second with 114 shots. An absurd 74 of those 136 shots are the three-point variety. Kuzma is averaging 2.7 more three-point attempts per game in this stretch than Trae Young averages per game.
Kuzma is shooting just 39% from the field and 28.4% from beyond the arc. Poor shooting and 27 turnovers as a non-guard are just silly. If these nine games are anything, it is proof that the notion that Kuzma would be much better on a bad team with a bigger role is just wrong.
2. Kenatvious Caldwell-Pope
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been very inconsistent this season. He started the season scorching hot and he has stretches where it looks like he cannot miss from three. However, he has had far more games in which he cannot hit a shot to save his life and he has not been great over this nine-game stretch.
KCP has the worst BPM of any player that actually gets minutes in the rotation. Kostas Antetokounmpo, Alfonzo McKinnie and Andre Drummond all have worse but the first two are mere depth guys and Drummond played a grand total of 14 minutes.
KCP has a -3.3 BPM that has been fueled by bad shooting and below-average defense. Ironically, KCP has been pretty decent from beyond the arc in this stretch as well. He is shooting 38.9% from three, which is certainly passable.
However, he is shooting 31% on two-point attempts with a 51.8% true shooting percentage, which is only better than Wesley Matthews and Kyle Kuzma among rotation players.
KCP probably has been better than Matthews if we are being completely objective but we should expect more out of KCP than we do Matthews. We have seen how good KCP can be at his best and outside of decent three-point shooting, he has not really added much to the Lakers in these nine games.
There is a reason why the Lakers went out and added another three-point shooter in Ben McLemore. McLemore has a very distinct floor and ceiling and the best version of McLemore will help with KCP’s inconsistencies.
3. Talen Horton-Tucker
Talen Horton-Tucker has a ton of potential and I am someone who is very high on what he can become in the league. The fact that a 20-year-old even has this big of a role on a title-contending team is remarkable in itself.
The Lakers have something special in THT and his potential as a two-way playmaker is off the charts. It is silly to expect a 20-year-old to be great, but we have to be fair in our analysis and point out how THT has played without LeBron James.
THT has left more to be desired in these nine games. While he is still playing solid defense, he really has not been much of an offensive threat, if at all. It will come with time but he is not a great shooter and his drive to the basket right-hand finish can only take him so far.
If anything, it shows the kind of offensive impact that LeBron James has on the players he plays next to, which we already knew.
THT has the third-lowest BPM among rotation players, only ahead of KCP and Kuzma and is averaging 10.6 points per game in the nine games. That is not bad, but he is only shooting 43.9% from the field and 31.6% from beyond the arc.
THT is playing 23 minutes per game without LeBron and his production has not really gone up. If we are grading on a curve, for a 20-year-old, THT is doing great.
If we are being completely honest, it is a tad bit disappointing that we are not getting even better play out of THT, but perhaps I am asking for too much.