Lakers' offense just unlocked surprising role for LeBron James and Rui Hachimura

The Los Angeles Lakers have been finding offensive success recently with small-ball, 5-out lineups, and Tuesday night's win over the Minnesota Timberwolves provided plenty of examples.

With Jaxson Hayes and LeBron James both out due to injuries, Lakers head coach JJ Redick played Rui Hachimura (and even Jake LaRavia!) at the 5 when Deandre Ayton was resting. What often resulted was a more spacious lane for Luka Doncic to work with, as both Hachimura and LaRavia pulled their defenders out to the perimeter.

Luka exploited this situation to his and the Lakers' benefit on multiple occasions, leading to an important question: Should the Lakers play more small-ball with LeBron and Hachimura at the 5 once James returns?

Luka Doncic, Lakers' small-ball lineups cashed in against Wolves

Take a look at this small-ball action from the first quarter against the Wolves (below). With Hachimura and LaRavia drawing Kyle Anderson and Naz Reid out to the perimeter, Luka has a completely exposed paint to attack when he runs off a well-placed Austin Reaves screen and receives the basketball on the move.

Even an All-NBA-type defender like Jaden McDaniels doesn't stand a chance once Luka has McDaniels on his hip (and with no help defenders patrolling the bucket).

Here's a second example (below) of Luka thriving in the 5-out, small-ball structure. With Hachimura, Reaves, and Luke Kennard maximizing floor space beyond the 3-point line, Marcus Smart -- seeing that he has Julius Randle switched onto him -- wisely pulls Randle away from the basket with a live dribble, allowing Luka to cut into the space that Smart has just created.

McDaniels is caught completely off guard here by a cutting Luka! In McDaniels' defense, 95 percent of guarding Doncic seems to involve Luka with the ball in his hands; this was an unexpected action from the Lakers, and all the more effective, as a result.

The Lakers also played LaRavia at the 5 last night, and Luka was able to eat all the same (see below). This leads one to wonder why LA shouldn't have LeBron play a heavier diet of center once he's back on the court.

The Lakers have two traditional centers in Ayton and Hayes, but only Hayes has shown to be consistently reliable (yes, okay, Ayton was solid on Tuesday).

The best version of LA has both bigs playing well, but on nights when Ayton isn't mentally present -- or if Redick sniffs out the right defensive alignment for the occasion -- more small-ball might lead to more winning for Luka and the boys.