It’s pretty safe to say that the 2021-2022 iteration of the Los Angeles Lakers will look much different than the team that we all saw fizzle out last season.
Heading into the offseason, the consensus amongst fans and Lakers players alike was that nobody ever truly got to see the full potential of last year’s team.
Things never really got rolling for the purple & gold after Anthony Davis’ Valentine’s Day injury derailed their 21-6 record and sent them spiraling down into the depths of the Western Conference playoff hunt.
Everything just began to fall apart.
Injuries kept piling up, the team never got to develop true chemistry on and off the floor and guys that we hoped could keep the ship afloat *cough, cough, Dennis Schroder* , simply couldn’t.
The Lakers didn’t have enough depth, and the players that they did have just didn’t really fit that well on the floor together.
This offseason, the Los Angeles Lakers sought to change that… and seemingly succeeded.
Rob Pelinka pulled out his best Mr. Krabs impersonation and somehow managed to fill out perhaps the most talented roster in the Western Conference with just veteran minimum deals and the Taxpayer MLE.
The thing is, depth can be a double-edged sword at times.
Sure, the Lakers may have managed to get a future Hall of Fame point guard in Russell Westbrook, a ton of great shooters and two or three young guys brimming with potential but none of that matters if the coaching staff can’t figure out what lineups best optimize all of their skillsets.
The Lakers made it clear a long time ago that they prioritize talent over fit, constantly picking the most expensive car in the lot while choosing to ignore its defects rather than buying the less glamorous one that runs perfectly.
They yet again showcased that by acquiring Westbrook instead of Buddy Hield.
The Brodie, Brow & King Era has officially begun in Los Angeles and there’s a very high likelihood that it ends with the three of them standing in the middle of Staples Center hoisting the franchises’ 18th Larry O’Brien trophy, but only if we can find the right lineups to get us there.
So that’s what I’m going to attempt to do here using a ton of tools from the incredible BBall Index.
One more thing, Frank Vogel, if you happen to come across this article and use it as inspiration just shoot me a DM.
I promise I won’t tell anybody.
Honorable mention Los Angeles Lakers lineup:
PG: Russell Westbrook
SG: Carmelo Anthony
SF: LeBron James
PF: Anthony Davis
C: Dwight Howard
The Lakers are probably the only team in the league right now that can throw five first-ballot Hall of Famers out on the court at the same time.
Between the five of those guys, they’ve got 52 all-star appearances, 44 All-NBA Honors, 15 All-Defensive nods, five MVPs and four scoring titles.
Keep in mind, that’s not counting the multiple assist & block titles as well as the All-Star MVPs that these guys have.
However, the sad reality is that we probably won’t see this lineup out there all that much because it’s just not likely to be very productive.
Having both Howard and Davis out there alongside Westbrook is a recipe for disaster because of everyone’s favorite word this offseason…that’s right, you guessed it, spacing.
According to BBall Index’s Lineup Creator tool, which allows you to take any lineup of five players and compare them to other 2020-2021 units in regards to spacing, playmaking, finishing and getting to the rim, this group of guys would grade out better than just 50.7% of other lineups when it comes to spacing the floor.
Howard isn’t a threat from deep, and teams would rather have both Davis and Westbrook settle for jumpers rather than have them attacking the basket.
While spacing isn’t everything, it is an essential part of how basketball is played in the modern era and this lineup just wouldn’t cut it.
3. The Los Angeles Lakers potential starting lineup:
PG: Russell Westbrook
SG: Kent Bazemore
SF: LeBron James
PF: Anthony Davis
C: Marc Gasol
While nothing is set in stone in regards to the Lakers’ starting lineup, this is what I’d personally project it to be for a multitude of reasons.
Outside of the three locks in Westbrook, Davis and James, I decided to go with Gasol and Bazemore because this lineup gives us a ton of flexibility and is balanced in terms of both offense and defense.
Bazemore reportedly turned down a longer, more lucrative deal from the Warriors in order to come to the Lakers because he believes he can play a major role on a championship-caliber team. Now, the Warriors also have the possibility to win it all next year but there’s one key difference.
With the return of Klay Thompson, Bazemore has absolutely no chance of starting next season.
Whereas with the Lakers, he might have the inside track to the starting role because he’s the most complete player out of any of the other options in Malik Monk, Wayne Ellington and Talen Horton-Tucker.
On offense, Bazemore is coming off of the best shooting year of his entire career, knocking down 44.9% of his shots from the field and 40.8% from deep.
The good news is, Bazemore should hopefully be able to keep those numbers up this season.
According to BBall Index, last season he graded in the 97th and 94th percentiles in regards to his 3-Point Openness Rating and Shot Quality Rating, which tends to happen when you’re playing next to Stephen Curry.
Well, instead of Curry, Bazemore will now be playing alongside two top-five playmakers in the league in Westbrook and James who will also command a ton of attention from opposing defenses.
His outside shooting isn’t even his best attribute though, it’s his perimeter defense, which the Lakers will most definitely need without Alex Caruso and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to man the ship.
Bazemore was legitimately great on defense last season and BBall Index has him in the 96th percentile in terms of their D-LEBRON metric, which measures a player’s impact on the defensive end of the court. This is an impressive feat by itself but it becomes even more jaw-dropping when you take into account that he was in the 86th percentile when it comes to matchup difficulty.
Combine that with the fact that he’s extremely accurate in the passing lanes as well as his versatility on the defensive end and it’s hard to see how Bazemore doesn’t land the starting gig.
As for Gasol, it really comes down to him vs. Howard for the starting center role.
Although Davis has said that he plans to play more center this year, I don’t think Vogel will just flat out start him at the five on a nightly basis.
Gasol gets the nod here due to his ability to space the floor and give both James and Westbrook room to operate. Playing Westbrook alongside two bigs who aren’t exactly deep threats really puts a chokehold on the offense.
Defenses would be foolish to leave Gasol, who shot 41.7% on catch and shoot triples last year, wide open.
2. A great offensive Los Angeles Lakers lineup:
PG: Russell Westbrook
SG: Kendrick Nunn
SF: Malik Monk
PF: LeBron James
C: Anthony Davis
I truly do have a hard time seeing how defenses would be able to stop this lineup.
However, I’m also having just as difficult of a time seeing how this lineup can stop opposing offenses.
The strength here is definitely offensive firepower and according to BBall Index, this lineup grades out better than the vast majority of others in terms of spacing (86.5%), attacking the rim (97%), finishing at the rim (99.7%) and playmaking (99.9%).
We know what we’re getting out of the three superstars but what about the two young guys in Monk and Nunn?
Well, starting with Monk, he’s coming off of by far the best season of his career and is still just 23 years old. He struggled with substance abuse issues off of the court but has seemingly gotten back on track and looks primed and ready to make a big impact on this Lakers team.
He’s uber-athletic and was deadly as a perimeter shooter last season and things should only get easier for him playing with James and Westbrook.
Per BBall Index, Monk shot 40.1% from deep all while dealing with a D- Shot Quality and a D Openness Rating. The Hornets are a super young team with a ton of budding talent but Monk was far in a way one of their better 3-point shooters, allowing defenses to really lock onto him from deep.
The sheer fact that he was able to even shoot over 40% from deep while dealing with those kinds of looks should give Lakers fans hope that those numbers can rise even higher, perhaps even to the 42%-43% range this season.
Another great thing about Monk is his movement off the ball. Last season, he was in the 99th percentile in terms of Movement Distance Rating and the 86th percentile when it comes to Movement Speed Rating.
This means that he’s extremely active without the ball in his hands, he gets to his spots and he gets there in a hurry which are all good things when you’re playing with two guys who can make any pass in the world.
When it comes to Nunn, he’s the much more balanced player which is why I believe he’ll truly be one of our biggest impact guys off the bench this year.
Just like everyone else the Lakers signed, Nunn is a great perimeter shooter, knocking down 42.1% of his catch & shoot opportunities. Where he struggles from deep is on his pull-ups, where he shot just 26.5%.
Not only can he shoot, but he excels in finishing at the basket as well. BBall Index ranked him in the 91st percentile when it comes to Adjusted FG% at the Rim despite grading in the 3rd percentile of shot quality at the rim. Nunn’s ability to penetrate defenses and get to the basket will hopefully create more open opportunities for the guys around him.
While both guys have their struggles on the defensive end, they’ve got room to grow and hopefully, in Vogel’s scheme, they’ll be able to maximize their potential.
1. The Los Angeles Lakers potential closing lineup:
PG: Russell Westbrook
SG: Kent Bazemore
SF: Trevor Ariza
PF: LeBron James
C: Anthony Davis
The Los Angeles Lakers closing lineup should be the one they’re able to be the most versatile with, and this fits the bill.
With this group of guys, the Lakers would be able to potentially switch almost everything on defense and we could theoretically be looking at one of the best small-ball lineups in all of basketball next season.
I know some people might wonder why Carmelo Anthony isn’t in here in at the expense of either Bazemore or Ariza and the answer is pretty clear.
Melo is absolutely atrocious on the defensive end, and that’s honestly putting it nicely.
Per BBall Index, Melo graded inside the 3rd percentile in terms of D-LEBRON and got an F grade in every single defensive metric.
It doesn’t stop there though.
He ranked in the 1st percentile when it comes to Matchup Adjusted Defensive Feet, which basically measures whether or not they cover a lot of ground vs. the guys they’re guarding. Just to put that into context, that was 5,993% lower than the average guy.
Yes, you read that right…nearly 6,000 percent worse.
Melo’s role when he’s on the court is strictly to shoot the ball and try to defend the worst offensive player on the opposing team and sometimes he even struggles with that.
The Lakers would just be doing themselves a disservice by putting Anthony into any closing lineup because offenses would force switches and just hunt him down, bring him out to the perimeter and get to the basket most of the time.
That’s why this is the lineup the Lakers should close games with.
Ariza gives them the defensive versatility needed to stick with whatever lineups teams throw out against them and per BBall Index, all five guys had a D-LEBRON percentile of at least 78.72 with four of them being in the 87.13th percentile or higher.
The Lakers have yet again positioned themselves amongst the upper echelon of NBA teams this year and they’ve got all the pieces that they should need to make this a special season.
All that’s left is seeing if they’ll know how to properly put it all together.