The Los Angeles Lakers find themselves in a bit of trouble now, having lost three in a row and six of their last 10. Much of the optimism from the start of the season has gone, and some changes might now be in order.
As is the case with most teams, the spotlight has been on the big names, and there is growing concern about whether the Lakers’ Big 3 should actually be playing together. The team looks to be struggling when Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves are all on the court together, and the numbers back up that notion.
A look at the Lakers’ net rating on Databallr when Doncic, James, and Reaves are all on the court, compared to when one or two of them are off, gives us some interesting results.
Garbage time and low-leverage situations aren’t considered here to give a more accurate reading.
The Lakers’ -7.1 net rating in the 126 minutes when Doncic, James, and Reaves are on the court together is concerning. This isn’t a small sample size either. While the defense is woeful with a 121.7 rating, the offense’s being mediocre with a 114.7 rating is the surprise.
On paper, having three players who can all score and playmake at a high level should make an offense incredibly difficult to guard. Add in the fact that they all can shoot from the outside as well, and you should be getting a team that is wreaking havoc. Unfortunately, the fit isn’t great.
Both Doncic and James are at their best when they have the ball in their hands. They are ball-dominant players who have gotten a bit better at playing off-ball, but they’re still not great at it. Add in the fact that they have to share the ball with Reaves as well, and you get why the offense is out of sorts.
The Doncic and James-led offense fares better when Reaves is taken out of the equation, with a 121.3 rating. Surprisingly, though, the team struggles massively on the other end with a 129.6 defensive rating.
It’s the same story when we look at what happens when James and Reaves are on, but Doncic isn’t. The offensive rating is an excellent 123.9, but the defensive rating remains 129.6.
The situation only changes when James is the one taken out. The offensive rating goes all the way up to 127.6 when Doncic and Reaves are running the show without him, while the defensive rating goes down to an excellent figure of 108.0.
While neither of these three is considered a good defender now, James is viewed as the best among them. So, it’s surprising that the team fares best on that end of the floor when he is the one taken out.
Trading Reaves has been put forth as a solution to the Lakers’ problems, but if this continues to be the case in the coming weeks, then you’d have to wonder if benching James is the best course of action. He also looks the best suited to run an offense by himself compared to the other two.
It’s a much smaller sample size, but the Lakers have a 129.2 offensive rating and a 118.8 defensive rating when James is the only star out there. The defense is still shaky, but the offense rolls, which gets you an excellent net rating of +10.5. James has, of course, excelled when he has role players around him who can do the dirty work while he runs the show on offense. That is kind of the case here.
Will Lakers head coach JJ Redick bench James and make him run that second unit? Absolutely not. You’d be hard-pressed to find a coach in the NBA who would be bold enough to do it.
Charles Barkley On The Lakers’ Problems
The Lakers’ latest loss was a 119-96 beatdown at the hands of the Houston Rockets on Thursday. The game was still within their reach at the end of the second quarter as the Rockets only led 63-53, but Charles Barkley declared on Inside the NBA at halftime that there would be no comeback. Barkley claimed there was nothing Redick could do to turn things around.
“There’s nothing he can do,” Barkley said. “They can’t guard anybody. They are just not a good defensive team. Their three best players are all bad defenders. They can’t keep athletic players in front of them.”
Barkley ended up being right. Redick went off on the Lakers players after the game, and it looks likely that changes will be made to the lineup and the rotation. Benching James is not going to be one of those changes, though.
The Lakers dropped to 19-10 with this loss to the Rockets, and Redick needs to arrest this slide in a hurry, to not waste their good start. They take on the Sacramento Kings next at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday at 9:30 PM ET.
