Darvin Ham’s rotations are not setting the Lakers up for success

We are officially four games into the new NBA season and the Los Angeles Lakers are currently 2-2. A current situation that needs to be discussed is the rotations made by head coach Darvin Ham.

It starts with the team’s overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings in the third game of the season. There were a multitude of reasons why the Lakers lost that game; whether it be the team being unable to hit open shots in overtime, defensive inconsistency, or lack of guard production. But when looking at the bigger picture Darvin Ham’s rotations are clearly an issue and his decision-making is negatively impacting the team.

Rui Hachimura recorded 11 points, 6 rebounds, and was a +9 but only played 17 minutes. Christian Wood had 11 points, 5 rebounds, and was a +12 yet he only played 14 minutes. Wood and Hachimura were clearly the Lakers’ fourth and fifth-best players but were buried on the bench for the last nine minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime.

However, Gabe Vincent, who has been disappointing so far in his Lakers tenure, saw more minutes than Hachimura and Wood combined and he essentially provided nothing but cardio all game. In his 32 minutes, Vincent scored 2 points and had an inexcusable foul late in the fourth quarter in a tie game with 30 seconds left while full-court pressing DeA’aron Fox.

It seems as if Darvin Ham is valuing favoritism over what the team needs and hopefully this is a habit he gets away from rather quickly. In a postgame interview, Darvin Ham stated that he needs to “tighten up” some things and will “dig into” the Lakers rotation to settle in on roles.

If there’s anything positive to take away from this it’s that Darvin Ham still has ample time to maximize the roster to the best of its ability. However, if this continues to be an ongoing issue I believe the Lakers should explore other options at the Head Coach position.

Darvin Ham showed himself what the Lakers need to do against the Magic.

In Monday night’s win against the Orlando Magic, the lineup combination of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Christian Wood was able to help the Lakers down the stretch as they were a +10 in 7 minutes, have a 127.3 offensive rating and 50.0 defensive rating.

Going forward this is a lineup Darvin Ham should continue to put out on the floor as it tends to generate success. D’Angelo Russell also proved that he needs to remain a staple of the rotation with his strong game. Russell scored 28 points on 71% shooting to go along with 8 assists. Russell’s consistency will be key for the Lakers going forward if they want to make a deep run.

Also turning to the direction of Max Christie should be considered because Cam Reddish has been struggling on the offensive end and Christie’s offense could provide the Lakers with a boost. Up next the Lakers take on the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, November 1st and look to get their first regular win against them since 2020.