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Los Angeles Lakers: 3 players who should be axed from the playoff rotation

By Jason Reed

PORTLAND, OREGON - MAY 07: Wesley Matthews #9 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts after his three point basket against the Portland Trail Blazers during the first quarter at Moda Center on May 07, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OREGON - MAY 07: Wesley Matthews #9 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts after his three point basket against the Portland Trail Blazers during the first quarter at Moda Center on May 07, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

3. Talen Horton-Tucker

You might not be happy to see Talen Horton-Tucker on this list and quite frankly, I do not feel great about putting him on here. As mentioned earlier, there are only 240 minutes to give out in a basketball game and having both LeBron and Dennis Schroder in the rotation is going to naturally hurt THT’s playing time.

Yes, I know, he is the young kid who is primed to be the future of the team (hopefully) and just hit a huge game-winning three against the New York Knicks to win it in overtime. Yes, he is a solid defender with length as well and that could be beneficial. I get that, but again, there is limited time to give.

I think THT is essentially going to be the 10th man in the rotation and will see some playing time. It will be similar to JaVale McGee last season. There were games in which McGee played over 10 minutes and then there were games where he did not play at all. At the end of the playoffs, he was averaging 9.6 minutes per game.

That feels like it is in THT’s range and based on my definition of getting 10 or more minutes and being a consistent part of the rotation, THT is technically out of the mix.

When you break down the roster it isn’t hard to see how THT would be left out. There is the starting five of Schroder, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Andre Drummond.

Off the bench, you then have Alex Caruso, Montrezl Harrell, Marc Gasol and Ben McLemore/Wesley Matthews. There are the nine players who will likely average over 10 minutes per game.

The big reason why the Lakers might pick a player like McLemore over THT in the rotation is the offensive threat. THT simply has not been efficient on the offensive side of the ball and is not really a threat to shoot the ball at all.

He has a below-average eFG% of 49.1 and his 27.4% three-point percentage is only better than Anthony Davis (and Montrezl Harrell, who has taken a grand total of 10 threes this season).

In fact, THT has the eighth-worst three-point percentage with at least 100 attempts in the league, putting him in the third percentile (not great).

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The Los Angeles Lakers already have one defensive-focused player who is not a huge offensive threat in Alex Caruso, they cannot afford another when coming up against the best teams in the league.

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