Lakers “bizarre” lineup change + perfect trade to help LeBron James & Anthony Davis | Hoops Tonight

Lakers “bizarre” lineup change + perfect trade to help LeBron James & Anthony Davis | Hoops Tonight

All right welcome to Hoops tonight here at the volume happy Tuesday everybody hope all of you guys are having a great start to your week we have a very special guest coming on today Mr yovon bhha the lead Lakers reporter for the athletic is going to come in and we’re

Going to talk about this bizarre starting lineup that the Lakers have been using the last couple of games we’re also going to talk a little bit about some roles changing within the locker room we’re both going to give our personal opinion on what the the starting lineup should look like and

Then we’re going to talk about what needs the Lakers have at the headline in light of their recent slides so without any further Ado Mr Yovan bhha is going to join the show yovon I was reading an article from you this morning drinking a nice cup of coffee it’s kind of

Cathartic listening to you just eviscerate the complete absurdity of the way this lineup was put together as you aptly put in your article 18 minutes so far of This Jared Vanderbilt cam reddish tan Prince LeBron James Anthony Davis lineup they’re giving up 125 points per 100 possessions on defense so leaning

Into defense is not getting stops they are scoring just 105 points per 100 possessions and they’ve been outscored by 20 points per 100 possessions over that span but hey they’re rebounding really well for whatever that’s worth so I’m curious we’ve seen behind the scenes we’ve seen the references to leaning

Into their identity and and weird comments about Austin Reeves minute load even though that doesn’t seem to apply to other players on the roster have you heard heard anything internally in terms of I turmoil is the wrong word but is anybody like raising their hand and

Going like hey this is not a good idea what are we doing uh yes there have been some eyebrows raised over the past uh 72 hours or so uh when the Lakers made this starting lineup change uh I heard I started hearing about it Friday afternoon uh and talking with some

People and at first I just didn’t believe it I was like there’s no way like maybe they’re putting V in because ever since training camp Darin has basically said V was going to win the starting spot over torian Prince uh he was going to be uh the fifth starter

Again and that was the way La was planning on going into the season but he suffers that heel injury he misses a bunch of time and you know ultimately comes off the bench uh but so I I felt at some point once he got his legs back

Under him even though really the game before he had just said he’s not 100% and and still kind of figuring things out that he would eventually go back to the starting lineup so that wasn’t a surprise to me uh and I I think with D’Angelo Russell essentially being on

The trade block since the summer with the the way that the Lakers structured that contract that he eventually would either move to the bench or just get moved in general so those two moves in a vacuum didn’t necessarily surprise me uh but those two moves happening you know

Together did surprise me of just looking at the lineup uh there is not a second ball handler there is not a secondary shot Creator on the perimeter and you just can’t play that way in 2023 uh especially if you are holding yourself to a championship level uh standard like

And I I think you saw that in the OKC game there were plus one in 10 minutes basically Treading Water against the OKC group that didn’t have Josh Giddy and frankly it’s not a great matchup for okay see I know you’ve covered that’re they’re just too small for the Lakers so

The Lakers were able to overwhelm them with their size and physicality but then you see it against Boston arguably the best team in the league certainly in my opinion the the best fiveman unit in the league right now and they just eviscerated them it was a 120 run in two

And a half minutes uh Lakers could not like I mean you freeze any possession that’s inside the three-point uh line and there’s four Celtics minimum in the paint if not five and they’re they’re cheating off of of LeBron and torian Prince and that’s kind of another thing

Here where like LeBron and torian Prince have both shot the ball well but I don’t think they still get the respect that maybe their shooting percentages would indicate so really you had the Celtics you know happy to ignore all five Lakers at certain points offensively uh to say

Nothing of the way that they were defending Cam and vand so just looking at that lineup it never made sense in in theory in practice it has been a disaster and I I think the Lakers are going to continue sticking with it for now just because Darin ham uh believes

In it and he said as much basically postgame but I think it’s a mistake and I think at some point in the near future within the next few games they’re most likely going to have to go to a different starting lineup to me it it’s such a it’s to me

It’s a representation of a basic lack of understanding of the way basketball teams operate and this is crazy to me because you know me yovon I never ever complained about the coach I think that often it’s just an easy target especially for fans when they can’t really Target anything else during the

Season and to me it like if there’s one thing that a a a a basketball lineup needs to do it’s to check all these specific responsibilities right and it’s it’s no different than like if you were to run out a a a a big goal line package

At Midfield and you had seven offensive linemen on the field you might be able to better protect your quarterback but who the hell is going to get open like who are you throwing to you know what I mean and and it’s it’s just a basic it like you almost are diminishing your

Returns even on the defensive end because couple things first of all when you have guys that are on the ball taking heavier Duty responsibilities the off ball jobs are easier especially for smarter players and so you can get better defensive production out of lesser defensive players in an off ball

Role especially if they’re a smart high IQ player like Austin for instance right and then on the other end of the floor I know it sounds crazy and we we talk about this all the time the idea of setting your defense but scoring the basketball makes getting stops easier it

Just does it even above and beyond the geometry of the floor when they have to take the ball out of the basket it’s also about it’s about motivation and passion and just when you’re getting buckets you want to sit better in a stance and to fight harder over that

Screen and it’s about believing in what your unit is capable of doing on both ends of the floor and like above and beyond anything else there was no legitimate like earning of the rotation spot and what I mean by that is it’s not like Cam’s playing so well you have to

Start him it’s not like Jared Vanderbilt is playing so well you have to start him Tori and Prince is the one guy in that group where it’s like he’s taken like eight n thre a game and he’s making 40% of them over the last month or whatever

Like toian at least you can make the case he’s shooting the out of the basketball you got to have them on the floor right but those other two spots how is it that by default they are going to lesser players that’s the part I don’t understand like like Austin Reeves

Has had some defensive limitations this year there’s no doubt he hasn’t been as good this year teams are being more deliberate about attacking him but beyond any shadow of a doubt the total two-way impact of Austin has far superseded any that cam reddish and Jared Vanderbilt have brought to the

Table so there is legitimately no logical case for putting this lineup out there to start games and and it’s frustrating for me because I hear you say things like uh what you just said a minute ago where you’re like go and I think they’re going to stick with it for

The time being okay can you elaborate on that for me first of all like how long do you mean and also like is he just under the impression that this is going to start working at some point well I think inherently coaches uh you know when they make a decision cuz the the

Funny thing to me with with this whole thing was we had been asking about a potential starting lineup change during the skid a couple games prior and Darin was and you know referencing uh I think it was after they lost the third consecutive game it was after the Bulls

Game and uh you know Darin we we referenced uh when the Lakers won or lost their three consecutive games earlier in the season that’s when you saw Austin Reeves go to the bench and he inserted cam reddish and that was the big change was you know this lineup

Isn’t working we don’t believe in uh you know Austin and DLo can play together and we we want to try cam out there so they make that change and you know so now they’re on a three-game losing streak we ask about it and he’s like

Well uh you know that’s a big deal to change the starting lineup at this point in the season and uh you know it’s it’s not something that we we you know are going to do lightly uh so then they lose the fourth game in a row and then all of

The sudden they make this starting lineup change uh and I just so I think inherently there’s a level of stubbornness that comes with being a head coach where when you make a change like that you don’t want to give up on it I asked last night uh you know I I

Said with the way that defenses are guarding Cam and Vando right now and just packing the paint and completely ignoring them do you think a cam Vando Wing tandem is viable you know as a starting you know Tandem and if so how are you going to make that work and then

He basically went on to say it’s all about pacing and they have to attack the way that defenses are playing them and use the space against them but like those guys aren’t Draymond Green as passers and decision makers and the Lakers don’t have Steph Curry or Klay

Thompson on this lineup so it’s one thing to to use the Golden State model of we’re going to use Vando as like a dribble handoff guy and like this and that but like if you saw the way that Boston defended them in those AC like they tried some of that stuff they’ve

Been playing more for out they’ve been having V more in the dunker spot and that’s another thing like they’ve started to abandon their five out principles because of this starting lineup change trying to make it work and then on the other end I thought Anthony Davis had a

Comment that kind of went under the radar where he was like we’ve been he didn’t say we’ve been a a drop in in hedge team but he basically like we have not been a switch team now we are switching a lot and we’re botching a lot

Of the communication and a lot of the coverages and I think you’ve seen that uh where there’s been miscommunication in transition defense uh they were crossmatched with Boston because christops porzingis was on Jared Vanderbilt so that kind of messed up some of the matchups and you saw in

Transition they didn’t know who their man was and then within the half court sets there was miscommunication on you know when are we switching these off ball actions who’s sticking with the cutter Etc so I think right now that they’re kind of in a period of of still

Trying to figure some of that stuff out but to me it just it doesn’t make sense again in theory it has not made sense in practice and I I think they should pull the plug now and look they’re going to play Charlotte uh on Thursday it’s a

Seven and 20 they’re going to look great they’re going to win that game and Darin’s gonna be able to point to that but you’re you got to measure yourself against the Minnesota the Oklahoma cities and the Boston and I just don’t think that type of lineup is viable against that caliber of

Opponent yeah the Oklahoma City game was very much a the the Lakers just dominated The Possession battle that was a big part of how they it did they did well in that game and they were just so much bigger at every single position I agree with you that stubbornness is the

Primary driver cuz like it felt like it felt like the obvious change to make was just swap DLo and Austin in the starting lineup and if you wanted to get Jared Vanderbilt in there you get him in there for cam uh but it it almost felt like if

Darvin put Austin in the starting lineup he would be basically publicly admitting he made a mistake by benching him to begin with and and that to me is stupid because that’s cutting off your nose to spite your face you’re not proving anybody right you’re just you you’re blatantly shining a light on yourself

That you are being stubborn in fact I’ve always found it more admirable when people are willing to admit when they’ve made mistakes in situations like that Austin by the way going into the game where he got uh not like where he should have been put back in the starting

Lineup but they went with Jared instead he had like over an eight game span been averaging 25 and six on 65% TR like literally playing his best stretch of basketball of the Season including just being an absolute monster in these inseason tournament games so it was like

The most obvious decision that you could possibly uh imagine for a situation like that now I want to I want to dive more into this concept of switching versus being a drop and hedge team but I want to look at it through the context of lineup construction so we’re going to

Come back to that in a minute what I want to start with is one of my biggest pet peeves is when people are just like hey that’s stupid but then they don’t provide a counter solution so what we’re going to do today is we’re going to have

A little exercise where we talk about what the Lakers starting lineup should look like the pros and cons of constructing them in different ways and talking about what schemes would have to be used to work with those groups so I want you to go first if you were the

Head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers tonight or tomorrow night I should say who would you put out as your starting five against the Charlotte Hornets uh so I would start of course LeBron and AD at the four and the five um I would go with

Austin at the one tan at the two and cam at the three I think to me the the pivot point in that lineup comes down to cam vers V I think you can make a case for either one of those guys Vando obviously bigger better rebounder uh cam is

Shooting the ball slightly better uh 30% overall but 25% in the month of December uh but at least he’s taking and making some V is 0 for 10 on the season uh so like that that that’s a problem to me um so I would go with those three I think

Toran I mean one he’s third on the team in minutes so like any lineup That pitching a starting lineup that doesn’t have tan is just unrealistic at this point he’s going to he’s a starting lock at this point um and a closing lock frankly so I think tan shooting 40% for

The last month or so as you said on threes uh I think he’s he’s a competent Defender uh not necessarily a lockdown Wing the way that Darin uses him at times but I think as like your secondary perimeter guy that’s fine then I look at

That V cam spot as the point of attack going to defend the best one through three guy uh and then Austin I I think if Austin’s your worst Defender and you’re kind of hiding him on uh the the secondary ball handler or or the secondary guard I think that’s totally

Fine and you the Lakers close more often than not with that alignment so to me I mean this is pretty clearly the best lineup construct of you know Austin’s your third best player don’t overthink it start him play him more than 28 minutes a night uh torian’s out there as

A floor spacer and then you have the cam Vando spot which honestly to me could even rotate depending on matchup but if you want to go with one I think cam has in the aggregate played slightly better he is the better shooter and I you just

You got to tell him don’t put the ball on the floor because that’s kind of been an issue lately is is him doing too much offensively but that to me is just you know pretty plainly the best potential starting five uh when factoring in roles and and the way that guys have been

Playing lately uh so that’s the group I would go with so the I have two lineups that I’d consider and one of them is basically a switching lineup and one of them is more of like a a hedge and drop lineup and the Hedge and drop lineup is basically

The same lineup you put together again don’t overthink it Austin’s your best player or uh best non LeBron ad player so you go Austin LeBron ad Tan’s the one guy out of all these wings that is doing one thing at a super high level which is

Shooting so you put him in that group to me it’s it’s cam is the better option right now but the reason why I start Jared is I do think eventually he’s going to get his legs underneath him and start defending like he did towards the tail end of last year so I think

Inevitably in the long run because cam again there have been these brief stretches where it’s like okay a two or three game stretch here where he only takes Corner threes and he’s focused on the defensive end and he’s deeply impactful but it’s been a lot of random

BS around that which has kind of limited some of his Effectiveness and again like it’s not one of the things I appreciate about Jared Vanderbilt is he knows he can’t shoot so you won’t see him take a pullup transition above the break three where you’re like dude okay we can get a

Better shot than that like he’s going to go get the ball to somebody uh that can make a decision with it so I would go Austin Vando torian LeBron ad in like a hedge and drop system where we’re trying to keep ad close to the rim

The this is the other lineup that I’d pitch and the basic concept here is you’re putting your five best players on the floor okay and it’d be Austin Toran ruie LeBron ad this would be a switch group now to Anthony Davis’s Point switching has ups and downs

The upsides are stagnates an offense you get in front of actions you shut down a ball screen game there’s a bunch of things you can do with switching to stagnate an opponent downsides there can be confusion in switches and when you botch a switch people get wide open

That’s a big problem that though can be fixed through repetition communication just building really good habits that’s that’s something where part of part of the risk of changing your defensive setup in the middle of the season is you can go through a stretch where you look like doing it because you guys

Don’t have your habits down right but then the other side of it is like okay we can give up rebounding mismatches or we can give up postup mismatches there are downsides physically to switching but you’re huge in that group like you’re unbelievably big you’re torian

Prince at 68 at the two ruy Hur 69 at the three and whatever he is 250 pounds LeBron James 69 260 270 at the four and Anthony Davis one of the biggest athletes in the league at the five and so you have the ability to basically shrink the floor when teams try to

Attack matchups in terms of digging down and and rotating and help and you’re huge on the glass and so one of the reasons why I like that that that potential group is like you are trying to float things until you get to a point where you can reconfigure the roster and

We’re going to talk about that in a minute and that could fundamentally change the entire direction that this team goes and you might have to kind of do what you did last year where you’re basically a new team post deadline anyway but you got to get to that point

And in the Western Conference you got to try to up as many wins as possible I think finding as many opportunities as possible to have your best players together can go a long way towards helping you there D’Angelo Russell is arguably your fifth best player but with

Torian shooting as well as he has and with the built of build of that lineup let’s just call him your fifth best player there and then again you eat some of the lumps of not uh of being as sharp with your switches and hope that in

Hopes that over time you can kind of figure some of that stuff out but like again to to Anthony Davis’s Point like like there’s there’s you got to find what it is that you want to be and lean into it if you’re going to be a switching team then build lineups

Accordingly and lean into it if you’re going to be a hedge and and drop team then build lineups accordingly and lean into it but this idea where it’s like okay we’re gonna we’re gonna run Cam and tan and and uh uh and Jared Vanderbilt and we’re gonna be this athletic team

But we’re just like putting together all these other weird groups where Austin we’re like okay here comes ruy and DLo and they’re just going to come down the floor and shoot every time because so fundamentally changing the team it’s it’s been it’s been such a bizarre experience watching in the last couple

Of days because all we’re seeing is these really redundant groups that just have a bunch of the same type of Talent on the floor and they’re really really struggling and there’s no doubt that they’re underachieving that said part of the issue here is you’re talking about okay well maybe it should

Be cam maybe it should be Jared I’m talking about like well maybe it should be ruy maybe it should be you know Jared we’re talking about all these different configurations and the issue there is none of these guys are are really what they

Need as good as ruy is as good as cam is as good as Jared is as good as tan is they all have a fundamental downside tan as good as he’s shooting is just not good enough to be a primary point of attack Defender he’s just not Jared

Vanderbilt is good enough to do that but he’s such a huge offensive limitation same I cam I I would argue is not good enough to do either right and then Ruby hamura basically has to be in a switching scheme because he can’t navigate screens and so that begs the

Question like if this is all going in towards a direction where you’ve need you need to consolidate these guys and you need to turn them into a specific type of player that works to me until Darin basically accepts that Austin is the one and that you need to upgrade

These two and three it’s hard to even get to that point where we’re moving in the right direction so I guess this would be my question have you heard anything internally that has uh that that leads you to believe that there’s frustrating frustration building simply from the standpoint that they can’t build

Functional lineups yeah uh I I think even if you look at Players comments postgame there’s been and and some of that stuff is natural during a losing streak so I I don’t want to like overplay that but you’ve seen several guys kind of be like I don’t know my

Role essentially or uh you know like I think ruy has been one of the most vocal in that sense of just like some nights ruy playing 16 minutes a night some nights ruy playing 30 minutes a night uh and it’s really been just kind of this

Up and down thing with so many guys uh and like I mean look at DLo DLo uh you know plays 38 minutes against the Timberwolves starts that game two for2 don’t really understand why he’s playing so much in that game especially when Austin has it going and then he gets

Benched and plays 18 minutes in each of the next couple games so right now uh the Lakers kind of continue to use the injury bug as an excuse in my opinion of you know we’re not like LeBron was asked last night about you how do you compare against Boston OKC Minnesota you guys

Just went one and two against those three teams and he referenced the team’s injuries but last night Gabe Vincent was the only guy that was out and I I know you Cam had a groin issue LeBron obviously had that collision with Jaylen Brown late in the second quarter but the

Lakers have been you pretty healthy relatively over the last uh couple weeks and we’ve still seen them struggle uh to beat a San Antonio team uh without ad and just some of these losses you know losing to Chicago basically fully healthy that was the game gave Vincent

Return so like I I think that excuse only holds water for so long and at some point it’s got to be like we have to figure this out in terms of our rotations and our lineups and I think another thing that’s kind of gone under under discussed with everything right

Now is like the Lakers wanted to have continuity that was the theme of the off season they said it in every press conference it was the main reason why they brought the band back together and that continuity has basically gone out the window where you won with a Jared Vanderbilt Austin Reeves D’Angelo

Russell starting perimeter group that has barely played together this season and part of that of course is Jared Vanderbilt’s injury but you know originally it was well Austin and and DLo can’t play together so let’s bring Austin Off the Bench now it’s well they’re playing well together so let’s

Bring them off the bench together and and you know have them run the second unit and it’s just it’s kind of mixed messaging uh so I think you certainly there is some frustration internally uh in terms of you know can we just stick with a lineup and a rotation for x

Amount of games see what’s working and what’s not and stop vacillating game to game the way that it has uh and part of that again is injuries and they have had some bad luck and that there have been reasons why certain lineups haven’t been able to play as much as the Lakers would

Like but part of that’s just been you know certain guys struggle and they get benched and certain guys struggle and they continue to play and I think we’ve kind of seen that like tan and cam have very long leashes in terms of you know like tan had that stretch where for like

11 games he was shooting 28 % on threes and he continued to play 30 plus minutes a night consistently uh cam has had some rough stretches particularly shooting and he’s continued to play whereas guys like Austin DLo ruy like those guys are fluctuating more so I think that you

Know you’ve mentioned the the consolidation with with DLo and ruy I think that’s a you know the likely solution here but it it has been kind of wild that night tonight it it’s really you don’t know what you’re getting in terms of lineups and rotation and like

Part of that again is injuries but part of that is just you got to stick to something and it shouldn’t be this current starting lineup well and again like leaning into Cam and tan as much as they have has diminished any sort of continuity like you’re you’re mentioning because those

Are those guys are eating up the majority of the of the wing minutes and again like like I like a Long Leash for especially a skill player guys like Austin guys like DLo guys like uh ruy because you want them to always be in Rhythm and so you disrupt Rhythm by

Constantly taking them out of games there’s no real upside to giving super long leashes to tan or Cam because Toran is basically a high volume catch and shoot guy and and more or less he’s just shooting catch and 23es he’s not a guy that’s actually breaking the defense

Down and cam like I’m not even sure you can point to a single thing that he does well offensively so like like maybe putting the ball on the floor for a 68 guy he’s got a little bit more pot there than some guys based on his pedigree but

Like there’s just not a lot that you’re getting there in terms of upside and so again like I agree with you like the fluctuations are are occurring in the wrong spot on the roster as far as LeBron and the excuses with injury 100% agree as well because the way I look at

It it’s like you’re not beating the Celtics as currently constructed when LeBron plays like under any circumstances okay you played really well against the Thunder and again they’re a bad matchup and they’ve struggled with big teams most of the year the Minnesota game schedule loss of

A back to back just a just a rough game right but there’s a lot of games in there that they had no business losing you know even if I give you the Chicago one because Chicago’s been playing some good basketball lately it’s like you lost to a Dallas Mavericks team that was

Decimated by injuries and I watched you guys not play hard to start the game you turned it on in the third quarter like I watched you guys lose to a San Antonio Spurs San Antonio Spurs team that literally hadn’t beat anybody in like a month and hasn’t beat anybody since

Like that that’s that’s there’s no there’s no oh like Jared Vanderbilt’s foot’s bothering him so he lost to the Spurs you know like there’s that to me is not something that I that I buy into some of this is like when you are trying to float until there’s a point in the

Future where you reorient some things on the roster you can’t afford to lose those games and and one of the things that they did well at the beginning of the year is they lost to the good teams but they took care of business against those teams and and that hasn’t been the

Case as of late and I think it’s it’s it’s done a disservice to them all I want for the holidays this year is some NBA action this week new customers can score 150 instantly in bonus bets just for betting five bucks an instant dub just for you guys download the draftking

Sportsbook app now and use code Hoops new customers can get 150 instantly in bonus bets for betting just $5 on basketball only on draftking sports book with code Hoops the crown is yours let’s talk about this deadline for a minute here because we’ve seen D’Angelo Russell’s role change he’s only taking

10 shots a game over his last nine shooting 40% from the field below 30% from three uh he’s weirdly important now because of Gabe Vincent’s injury as essentially the backup point guard um although Austin’s kind of in that spot too which is which again leads you to

Wonder why the hell the rotation is constructed the way it is I saw a star trade suggested today that was the first one that I’ve actually liked for the Lakers I have not liked any mention of Demar D rozan or uh or Zack LaVine or any of these other names that have been

Thrown out there but sham Shania reported today that we should keep an eye out for Deonte Murray to be on the Lakers radar now I I I want you actually to go first here do you do you actually view that as realistic because I’m wondering why in the heck

The Hawks would want one first and and ruy haimura and DLo as as as a package there do you view it as realistic and two if so do you think it’s a direction that would help alleviate some of the Lakers issues right now I I view it as

Realistic in so far as I think the Atlanta situation clearly isn’t working and they likely have to split that up uh I feel like deante is more of the Fall Guy in this this scenario uh and I think the Lakers would have interest in him

And and do have interest in him and uh there’s also the clutch connection so you can’t uh you know uh I guess you know Overlook that but to your point like the Lakers just don’t have a lot to give up and I I think when front offices

Admit a mistake we were talking about it with coaches but with front offices to admit a mistake I mean when did they trade for him uh but I don’t even remember how it’s two or three years couple years ago so it hasn’t been that long um and you know

For for them to admit a mistake and and given all that they gave up to get him to get a just one first round pick back and you’re not going to get Austin Reeves so I think Austin would you have to be like a Bonafide high level Allstar

For the Lakers to include Austin Reeves in a deal so if you’re looking at something like DLo uh one of the younger guys you know be it Max or Jaylen and throw in a pick Lakers have upwards of uh four pick swaps they could throw in so maybe you

Throw in a pick swap or two just to appease Atlanta and get this done like is you know is there a better package out there and I think there probably is for dejonte Murray I look at a team like Philly uh and what you know they could

Potentially offer uh and Philly and and the Lakers are kind of in in the same boat in looking for the same types of play players be it an Alex Caruso or or whatnot or you know more 3 and D wings so like a team like Philly can come in

And probably offer a better package uh and a more aggressive package as we know darl Mor he likes to do so I do look at it would probably have to be a situation where just the market is dry for deante and uh you know he wants to be in LA and

You got the clutch situation and uh the Lakers and Hawks you know figure out and again probably some pick swaps in there just to appease them but that’s where I I I just the actual package itself I kind of struggle with I don’t know if you expand it to a three- team deal

Feels like a lot of these potential trades for the Lakers probably have to be a three team deal where DLo gets uh rerouted to a third team uh that’s you know kind of an OKC Utah situation where they’re just trying to absorb a contract and uh you know get another asset out of

It maybe that’s where one of the younger guys goes as well uh but I I that’s where I I I hesitate to to say it’s realistic in terms of like actually looking at the package but I think the Lakers de Jon checks the box of you could imagine him in that starting

Lineup uh with his size and athleticism defensively and and just what he’s capable of I think he could fit the type of defensive guard the Lakers could use uh and then again the clutch situation I think kind of speaks for itself so I think there’s some smoke there for sure

I just I struggle seeing Atlanta pulling the trigger and and that ultimately being the best available package for him yeah it’s it’s funny because I I’m super skeptical as well as to the realistic nature of this type of deal but it again I as I said earlier it’s

The first one I really like and the main reason why is because it’s a star a star but a star that kind of complements the specific issues that the Lakers are having we talked about the pros and cons of switching versus dropping earlier and I am a big believer that ideally if you

Have the Personnel for it I’d prefer to drop and the main reason why is to me Anthony Davis at The Rim is the is the best version of this Laker defense and throughout the history of this team the best versions of them have basically been teams that allow Anthony Davis to

Defend and pick and roll and then the Lakers will switch at the end of games they’ll switch Anthony Davis in pick and roll onto the opposing star to get a couple of key stops at the end that to me is is the is the direction this team

Should should go in order to reach their own personal ceiling but in order to do so they need a legitimate point of attack guard that can navigate over the top of screens and apply back pressure I view Deonte Murray as that type of guy I think he’s I think for starters he came

Up with a defensive pedigree and and when uh uh two the dude was a huge LeBron fan early on and would probably be willing to take on a role like that in hopes of potentially achieving a longer Championship run with LeBron James and Anthony Davis I think he compliments Austin Reeves

Really well in the back court dejonte was a really bad off ball player last year having a much much better off ball season this year fueled in large part by just him shooting the ball better in catch and shoot situations and being more aggressive in catch and shoot

Situations this was a guy who looked to drive Closeouts a lot in the past now he’s taking a lot of those jumpers when he gets them so I think it’s like a would be an absolute slam dunk as far as star trades go that said I still come

Back to the same three things ideally you want an upgrade at the three an upgrade at the two and an upgrade at the uh Center position and so I I still think the most realistic and best case scenario for the Lakers is some sort of deal with Chicago where they get Caruso

And someone like Andre Drummond and maybe that that’s the deal that probably requires draft compensation and then I’d look at a team like Brooklyn and that’s the team I’d be calling with ruie because the other important part of this too is R what does ruie do for Atlanta they have the

Same player basically in in DeAndre Hunter DeAndre Hunter is is very very similar to Ru hamura pullup mid-range jump shooter guy kind of an on an island score that seems to kind of struggle in the flow of offense and so I again to your point they’d need a third team to

Even facilitate a deal like that but Brooklyn has like three big lanky wings that are kind of like more like twos and threes and then Ben Simmons is there four and he’s been injured basically right so they don’t have a big strong forward they don’t have like an actual

Ruy haimura archetype but they have a guy like Dorian finny Smith a to go alongside cam Johnson to go alongside male Bridges I’d be I’d be looking to to potentially make a swap like that where you’re getting a guy like Dorian finny Smith which is basically torian Prince

With better perimeter defense and that ends up being an upgrade at that position if they did something like that now we’re talking about a lineup that could throw out Austin at the one Alex cruso at the two a guy like Dorian finny Smith at the three LeBron and AD all of

Those position uh positions make perfect sense it cleans up some of the rotation stuff and then you’d have a playoff playable Center in someone like Andre Drummond coming off of the bench uh which I think we’ve seen a lot from Christian Wood and Jackson Hayes that

Has left a lot to be desired in recent weeks so I still lean like instead of targeting that bigger type of of Target little trades for upgrades at starting caliber positions you have two starting caliber players in D’Angelo Russell and ruy hachimura that don’t start for you

Because you already have guys in their positions you have to find a way to turn them into starters that slot into those positions do you agree with me or do you think that they should go big fish hunting I agree with you I I think it

Depends on the big fish uh I think the jeon Murray is as you were implying going in the right direction comparison with a Zack LaVine or even Demar D rozan I think I I would prefer D rozan over LaVine if I’m the Lakers and I I I know

They feel the same way uh but even there that you know with his lack of three-point shooting and his defense is passable you know depending on who he’s guarding but like I I still think there there’s a bit of a fit issue there both starting and closing games uh whereas

With the Jon I think he would slot in properly you could games with him and Austin you could start games with him and Austin though I don’t know if they would go in that direction uh but I I think it just makes more sense uh but

I’m with you and I know that this is something that they’ve been weighing and and really it’s been one of the big questions for the Lakers as an organization over the last few years has been do we chase the third star or do we go uh for the role player upgrades and I

I think we we saw at the Russell Westbrook situation that they chased the third star did not work now granted uh outside of Ben Simmons that might have been the worst third star to pair with LeBron and AD in terms of fit uh it probably was the worst uh but you know

So I don’t know if that’s like the best example of what a third star could look like next to LeBron and AD like I think when they were going after Damen Lillard briefly like that would have been a perfect fit in my opinion um you know you could have ad covering for him

Defensively and with his shooting and and pick and roll ability alleviating a lot of that burden off of Le and of course you know he’s been a top 10 12 player over the last few years so I mean that that’s the high level upgrade of course but um like I I think there’s

Degrees here where just just blatantly you know saying that a third star won’t work or won’t fit I think is a mistake but they don’t really have the assets to get the type of third star that would fit perfectly next to LeBron and AD in

My opinion um it would really have to be a terrible contract or uh you know a situation where you know they they can get a third team involved and and maybe that can help facilitate it but I just don’t see it the Lakers being straight up you know

Being able to find that type of third star that really takes them to the level of a Denver or a Boston so to me it is a smaller upgrade I’m with you I think three and D Wing has been the biggest issue for this team really since the

Championship uh you know they haven’t been able to replace I mean they still had kcp and and C that second year but injuries and whatnot but like they haven’t been able to replace that uh you know since the Russ trade with you know kcp kzz Danny Green even Alex Caruso is

More of a three and D guard like they just haven’t had those types of guys consistently uh so you know it’s always been one flawed like Jared Vanderbilt really good perimeter Defender but can’t shoot and teams just play him off the floor in the playoffs so I think finding

At least one of those guys if not a couple if possible like uh you know maybe you can’t get Caruso and you go for Royce O’Neal and Dorian finy Smith and uh you know Royce O’Neal obviously isn’t the caliber of player that Alex cruso is but to me it would still be an

Overall upgrade to the rotation if you could bring both of those guys in those are two guys the Lakers have had interest in uh dating back to last offseason and and even last trade deadline so I know that those are two guys that they would have interest in in

Bringing in so I think you know we’re on the same page here in terms of if if you can find the perfect third star somehow and and make that work and and make a miracle uh you know pull it off like sure go for that but realistically I I

Think it’s going to have to be a marginal upgrade in terms of the starting and closing lineup but that’s still very important for this group is obviously they have yet to figure out what’s our best fiveman lineup and we’re over 30 games into the season that that’s the key there is like

You have to find a way to make Darin’s job easier because he’s struggling he’s struggling I I mean like I I said this yeserday the other day and I truly believe it like in all my time watching basketball I can’t ever remember a lineup decision that confused me as much as

This starting lineup move and it’s not born out of you know foolishness from Darin it’s born out of desperation he’s straight up trying to find something that works now I think he’s grabbing at the wrong stuff personally but I I I do think that this is born out of

Desperation out of situation and like at the end of the day you have to you can no longer have it you you put it like this in your Tweet uh the night that they announced the starting lineup and it really was this simple the three three of the top five highest players

The the highest paid role players outside of LeBron James and Anthony Davis all came off the bench that’s just a misallocation of resources plain and simple you you you’re making your job harder and so finding ways to to uh to make it so that it’s pretty straightforward that your five best

Players are on the floor to start and finish games is it the Bill Simmons you know always said this uh when I was growing up listening to him and I thought it was smart it’s just like who’s your five who’s your five like who’s the five you’re going down with

And the Lakers don’t know and that’s the problem and they have a problem here because even number three isn’t viewed as number three by the head coach so so it becomes an issue there now I actually again you have to you have to add realistic uh expectations here I agree

With you like Philly’s going to be aggressive Miami is going to be aggressive uh I wouldn’t be surprised if we see teams like Oklahoma City Indiana and Sacramento get aggressive more for a front Court player so like a Golden State’s going to be aggressive there I

Think this is going to be an extremely active deadline and I do think the Lakers are going to get outbid by some of the bigger targets out there or for some of the bigger targets and so I think it is going to be important to try

To find you know guys that where where you’re getting more out of the sum of the parts if that makes sense and honestly Royce O’Neal is an interesting kind of fallback option for like a two guard uh one of the things I like about Roy is he’s not afraid to shoot the

Basketball like that that is something that I think could uh could go well with that group and he is comfortable a little bit behind the three-point line as well I I think I think I think you’re you’re hitting at all the right stuff there I think like realistic targets

Upgrades at the role players those are the directions to go I’ve seen a lot of people talking about Austin’s defense I I can think of a lot of ways the Lakers could lose on their way to a title this year and none of them involve Austin

Becoming an issue they just don’t for me like I obviously there are there are moments where he can get exploited for his lack of size but having one guy on the floor like that is a problem every single team has I watch Denver literally get relentlessly attacked in the post by

Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan kaminga on Jamaal Murray you know I’ve seen uh a teams do it to Boston’s guards I’ve seen teams do it to Dame and to Malik Beasley that’s that to me is just a fundamental part of a good basketball team is you

Got to have a point guard on the floor and he’s probably going to be smaller and he’s probably going to be a guy that can be attacked that to me is something you have to learn to work around instead of just bailing on entirely and so to me

It’s about the two and the three um all right before we get out of here is there anything that you uh wanted to plug I know you’ve been working really hard over the holiday yeah just uh I my my story today about uh the starting lineup and I think the headline literally was

Uh you know doesn’t make any sense and uh I mean I I go into some of the reasons you know look at some of the early possessions of just the way they’re defending the Lakers uh and why uh it’s a mistake to continue using this lineup the trickle down effect I think

You were talking about offense leading to defense like that’s the the other thing here is if you’re not scoring you’re giving up your transition baskets and that’s what I think there was a play Early in the game cam runs a pick and roll because the Lakers need another

Ball handler out there he’s running pick and roll he turns the ball over in the Celtic score and transition it’s like if you have Cam as that fourth or fifth ball handler in the lineup you’re not really running into that but when you put him as arguably the second ball

Handler in the lineup now that’s where you you have some of these issues so uh to me you know Lakers clearly have to go in a different direction with that lineup and and the way that it affects the rest of the rotation uh but that

That would be the the main thing um I I’ll have some stuff coming up uh you know for the New Year in terms of uh state of the Lakers and of where things are at but uh for now uh just enjoy uh a breakdown of why their new starting lineup doesn’t make

Sense one of the things I appreciated was that in that second half I don’t know if you noticed but they just started posting up LeBron and AD every single possession and like that to me is the the at least the the right counter to that none of our other guys can

Dribble situation which is which is something to to look at but like I I Yovan and I have joked about this off the air but like in a weird way this has been kind of like the perfect Lakers season because obviously everybody outside of the Lakers fan base just

Thinks they suck and I I tend to think that’s wrong I think this is I think the Lakers are the team that have the largest gap between their night toight effort and what they’re capable of which is going to lead to some mixed results in the regular season that are going to

Make them look lesser than they are but it’s kind of perfect because they’re in my opinion one of the short list of teams that genuinely has a chance to win the title if they hit if they hit at the deadline but tons of drama tons of of shitty basketball for us to complain

About over the course of the 82 uh Yovan did an amazing job in his article today uh broke down a bunch of specific video examples of the way that the floor shrunk on the Laker uh starters with the way that that lineup was constructed I highly encourage you guys to check it

Out as always we appreciate you guys for supporting the show we’ll have a show tomorrow coming out with power rankings as well as some game breakdowns I will see you guys Then he

Jason Timpf is joined by Lakers beat writer Jovan Buha of The Athletic to discuss the recent starting lineup change that Darvin Ham has implemented for the Los Angeles Lakers as they are in the midst of a 4-6 stretch. LeBron James and Anthony Davis have been visibly frustrated, and it is clear that the Lakers will need to make a mid-season trade in order to be championship contenders.

Timeline:
00:00 – Introduction
00:40 – Lakers “bizarre” new lineup
07:40 – Confidence in new lineup moving forward?
12:35 – Jovan’s preferred starting five
15:20 – Jason’s preferred starting five
20:35 – Is frustration building in locker room?
28:00 – Dejounte Murray to Lakers?
34:22 – Best trade scenarios for Lakers
40:36 – Darvin Ham coaching with “desperation”
44:06 – Check out Jovan’s work

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