The Los Angeles Lakers have had a rocky season thus far. After a horrendous start to the season, Los Angeles actually started to pick up some momentum with wins over lesser teams. However, there are still huge concerns with this team, especially after Monday’s loss to the Indiana Pacers.
The Lakers blew Monday night’s game in epic fashion, highlighting all of the things that are wrong with this basketball team. At the center of the meltdown was Darvin Ham, who made some questionable decisions with the rotation leading to the collapse.
This is not a first for Ham, who has not been great when it comes to managing the team’s rotation this season. While he is not working with the best roster in the league, he still has to maximize what he has and he has not been doing that thus far.
Here are 3 Lakers rotation changes that Darvin Ham desperately needs to make:
1. Give Thomas Bryant a consistent role
Thomas Bryant missed the first month of the season with a thumb injury and it seemed like he was slated to have a somewhat prominent role when he returned. As good as Anthony Davis was playing, he was getting beaten up while essentially operating as the five, highlighting the importance of having a decent center on the roster.
Despite this, Bryant has not had the kind of role that we were expecting. Bryant’s role has been all over the place with him playing in certain spots but not playing in others despite playing pretty well in the chances he has received.
Bryant did not play in Friday’s game against the Spurs, logged 17 minutes in the team’s following game against San Antonio, and then received just three minutes against the Pacers. With a roster that is so small, the Lakers need to lean into his size.