Darvin Ham tried to resist changing his starting lineup during the Los Angeles Lakers' recent four-game losing streak. “You can’t just change on a whim,” Ham said said after Wednesday's loss to the Chicago Bulls. “That's a big deal when you change your starting lineup at this level.” But after Thursday's loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Ham relented. Change was necessary. He just didn't take it in the direction most fans expected.
Would he substitute Austin Reaves for the struggling D'Angelo Russell? Perhaps he would bring back the starting lineup that led the Lakers to the Western Conference finals a year ago and featured both Reaves and Russell alongside LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Jarred Vanderbilt, who recently returned after a lengthy absence. In the end, neither Russell nor Reaves, both of whom opened the season as starters, were part of the new lineup. Vanderbilt, a non-shooter, joined James, Davis, Taurean Prince and Cam Reddish in the new starting lineup on Saturday.
The results on the pitch were slightly more positive than negative in the first round. In about nine minutes of play, this lineup outscored Oklahoma City by one point. The Lakers, who had trailed in the first quarters all season, were able to assert themselves early. Ultimately, the Lakers managed to win the game 129-120 and the key players were mostly optimistic. Ham praised the “size and physicality” of the group as a means of enabling transition ability in defense. Russell, who came off the bench in the regular season for the first time since the 2020-21 season, was comfortable in his new role. “The result was a win,” Russell said said. “For me, that’s all that matters.”
But overall, the roster's deficiencies could prove problematic for a coach who has openly expressed his reluctance to make further changes. The obvious weakness is spacing. James served as the point guard of the lineup and the Lakers relied on the James-Davis pick-and-roll more than ever. That in itself is not a problem. That was the offensive formula when the Lakers won the championship in 2020. But this group had a lot of shooters.
By 2023 standards, this lineup is downright comical because it doesn't feature any shootouts. The trio of Prince, Reddish and Vanderbilt have averaged just 3.24 combined 3-point attempts per game over their careers. While Prince has had his ups and downs this season, he has shot pretty well. Reddish and Vanderbilt are rarely guarded. This creates even more traffic at the rim for James and Davis. They handled it very well on Saturday. However, they will not always succeed. The goal should be to make James' life easier, not harder.
Space does that. This also applies to additional ball handling. After all, there's a reason James pushed for the disastrous acquisition of Russell Westbrook. At this stage of his career, he prefers to play forward rather than point guard. The Lakers had two additional ball handlers in the starting lineup during their playoff run a season ago in Reaves and Russell. They had none on Saturday. James can handle the load for one game, and he can probably swing it for a month. Asking him to do this for an entire season is unreasonable. He will be 39 years old in December.
When Reaves was benched in November, part of the logic was to separate him and Russell as much as possible for defensive purposes. If both sit out the first few minutes of each half, it becomes much more difficult to do so without seriously reducing their minutes. In fact, Reaves played 28 minutes and Russell played 17. After last season's trade deadline, they combined to average 60.6. An offense currently ranked 24th probably can't afford to use its secondary and tertiary ball-handlers so little.
The theoretical advantage here is an improvement in defense. The results on that end of the floor were mixed. Oklahoma City scored 23 points in about nine minutes against this lineup, and that number could have been higher if the Thunder had made more of the open threes the Lakers gave them.
When building a lineup, balance is crucial. That was one of the reasons last year's starting group was so strong. Russell is a defensive liability. Vanderbilt is an offensive liability. But as long as James, Davis and Reaves on both sides held up their end of the bargain, the Lakers could take advantage of all five. This group outscored opponents by 20.6 points per 100 possessions during the regular season.
In the longer term, there may be a method to Ham's madness. Reaves has embraced his bench role well. Russell has been struggling lately. Perhaps sensing a change is coming, the Lakers want to move Russell out of the starting lineup before his replacement arrives without disrupting Reaves. It's hard to imagine the Lakers adopting such a flawed offensive lineup in the postseason.
But the Lakers are only 16-14. Even if a move is made that adds a new secondary ballplayer like Chicago's Zach LaVine to the starting lineup, the Lakers can't afford to abandon games waiting to happen. The Lakers and the 11th-seeded Suns are tied in the loss column. They're taking a significant risk by playing a lineup with so few shots, and with Ham hesitant to make changes, they risk falling even further behind as this experiment progresses.