Unused 5-man lineups the Los Angeles Lakers should experiment with

3. The “Russell Westbrook as the small-ball five” lineup

• Malik Monk, Wayne Ellington, Carmelo Anthony, Trevor Ariza, Russell Westbrook

Man, this lineup does not seem to make a lot of sense on paper and I do not doubt a single person reading this for laughing when initially reading it. This is where the Lakers are at. A lineup like this might be better than what the team is actually throwing out there.

The logic here is simple. Russell Westbrook is not someone who plays well next to other stars and instead plays much better when he is the star of the show on the court. Not only that, but Westbrook also showed both in Houston and Washington that he can buy into this small-ball five type of role.

It helps the floor spacing and the Lakers would surround him with shooters to further help the spacing. It would be perfect if the team had a bigger (or better) stretch-four than Trevor Ariza but they have to roll with what they have.

This is the lineup that you roll out in the end of the third quarter when LeBron James and Anthony Davis need to rest for the fourth quarter. Give Russell Westbrook the floor, give him shooters and let him take over the show.

Would this lineup work in the playoffs? Absolutely not. The defense of this group is really bad. However, if timed correctly against another team’s bench unit, this five-man lineup could thrive in transition and actually put Westbrook in a situation to succeed! The entire purpose of getting Westbrook was to raise the floor of the team’s regular-season record. This helps accomplish that.

We have seen some four-man lineups that were close to this that have played 3-5 minutes this season, but never this exact lineup.

Lineups searched using Sports-Reference’s Lineup Finder Tool