Team USA providing blueprint for how LeBron James can help Lakers contend

How does one evaluate a player who has rewritten history and set standards never previously met? It's the impossible task placed in front of first-year Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick, with a soon-to-be 40-year-old LeBron James operating as the source of the question.

As James reminds the skeptics that he continues to be one of the best players on the planet at the 2024 USA Basketball Showcase, the answer may be presenting itself.

Steve Kerr has coached Team USA to a 5-0 record in the exhibition games leading up to the 2024 Summer Olympics. Three of those games were decided by single digits, and only one game resembled the American's historically dominant form.

While some might be concerned about what that means for Team USA's gold medal dreams, the Lakers should view this experience as the perfect opportunity to adapt their strategy.

Lakers star Anthony Davis has been tremendous for Team USA, anchoring the defense and dominating the glass. It's an encouraging sign considering Los Angeles has passed the baton to the 31-year-old as the franchise player.

What makes the Americans' performance so compelling for the Lakers, however, is that Kerr seems to have cracked the code in terms of how to use James at 39 going on 40.

LeBron James can still dominate—if positioned to do so

James continues to defy Father Time, but that doesn't mean that he can play without limitations. He's still an athletic powerhouse who can overwhelm defenders and finish above the rim, but he's also a player with considerable milage and the need to pace himself through games.

Those limitations play a significant role in the fact that James has missed at least 26 games in four of his six seasons with the Lakers, exceeding 70 appearances just once—2023-24.

The reason 2023-24 saw an uptick in availability is consistent with what Team USA has done to help James thrive: They've helped him lean on skill over physical dominance. With the Lakers, he attempted fewer shots, returned to the role of primary facilitator, and conserved his energy for the fourth quarter.

Team USA has helped establish what may be required to put the finishing touches on that stylistic evolution: Surrounding James with committed defenders.

What Los Angeles began to do in 2023-24 had the potential to yield tremendous results. James posted the best three-point field goal percentage of his career, five players averaged at least 13.6 points per game, and three Lakers averaged upwards of 5.5 assists per contest.

It's also worth noting that a 47-win season is nothing to scoff at when one considers the fact that top defenders Jared Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent appeared in a combined 40 games.

Rather than relying on two role players to hold the defense together, however, Team USA is requiring everyone to buy in on that end of the floor. It's the key to tapping into any team's potential, especially one with a 39-year-old closer.

The result has been James taking over in the fourth quarter and even putting the team on his back when it looks like no one else can do so.

That's the blueprint that the Lakers must follow. Creating a consistent and coherent offensive system will be essential, but the primary concern must be holding each other accountable on defense to limit the deficits that James must bring Los Angeles back from—or at least maximize the value of each point he scores.

If the Lakers are able to defend at a high level and continue to create open shots, then James can close out the games that Davis paces them through.