LeBron James has had some time to adjust to his new team. It's time to assess where he is at after spending over a quarter of the season with the Los Angeles Lakers. James is a Laker, which still feels so odd to type.
The Los Angeles Lakers roster presents a unique challenge for The King that he has not faced since maybe his first stint in Cleveland. While his supporting cast last season was less than spectacular, he did have Kevin Love to help shoulder the load.
This Lakers team may not be devoid of talent, but it is missing that clear other star. The young guys will continue to grow and develop under Luke Walton as the season progresses. That being said, LeBron James is under a lot of pressure to carry this team night in and night out, which could have a slightly negative effect on his play come playoff time.
What am I saying, LeBron will once again become a destroyer of worlds once we hit the end of April.
It is important not to rush to any conclusions — good or bad — this early into the season with the LeBron led Lakers. There are still some takeaways to be had when it comes to LeBron James' first 26 games with the purple and gold.
LeBron James the Scorer
We have not seen this version of LeBron since his first run with Cleveland. James is averaging 28.3 points per game and taking 20.0 shots per game, his highest marks in each category since his 2009-2010 season with the Cavaliers. His assists per game have also fallen from 9.1 last season to just 6.9 this year.
The simple explanation for this is that the Lakers need a scorer above all else. LeBron has always been excellent at uncovering exactly what kind of player his team needs and then altering his game to fit that prescription. It must be nice to be a 6'9″ 250 lb genius who is great at everything on a basketball court.
The Lakers have plenty of playmaking ability outside of LeBron with Lonzo Ball, Rajon Rondo, and Brandon Ingram on the team. This allows for James to take a more aggressive scoring approach that he is currently utilizing to great success.
The Lakers really do not have a lot of guys they can give the ball and ask to get a bucket outside of James. Kyle Kuzma (17.3 PPG) and Ingram (15.2 PPG) are the Lakers next two leading scorers after LeBron. After those two, it's a pretty significant drop-off. Don't look for LeBron James to revert back to his pass-first ways anytime soon with the Lakers roster constructed the way it is.
LeBron isn't Always the Easiest Player to Play With
Just ask Mr. Brandon Ingram. Ingram has had a fine year, but has yet to take the jump that most Lakers fans hoped he would have made by now. A lot of that has to do with LeBron James, actually.
People fall into the trap of thinking that future Hall-of-Famers like LeBron James always elevate the game of their teammates. This may be true in a lot of cases, but it's simply not factual across the board. Brandon Ingram is the perfect example of this. It might seem that, because the players have some similarities in their games, Ingram would flourish with James mentoring him. In reality, it is actually their similarities that cause the two to clash on the court.
Neither Ingram or LeBron are particularly comfortable as off-ball players. They both thrive with the ball in their hands while creating for teammates. They rely on their size or speed advantage against most defenders to exploit mismatches and make plays. Of course, there is only one ball. Ingram is not a great outside shooter (32.4% on 1.7 threes a game) rendering him not much of a floor spacer for LeBron to drive and kick to.
This graphic from ESPN last week shows the impact playing with LeBron is having on Ingram's game:
As you can see, Ingram is much more comfortable playing the LeBron roll sans LeBron. LeBron also benefits from having an extra 3&D guy on the floor with him. The on-court chemistry between LeBron and Ingram will be something to monitor especially as the team approaches the trade deadline.
The Lakers Are Not Contenders (Yet)
The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the hotter teams in the NBA right now. LeBron and Co. have won 12 of their last 16 games and have clawed their way up all the way to fifth in the Western Conference. The team may be playing excellent basketball at the moment, but they have a long way to go before being considered one of the elite.
The roster is simply not constructed to contend for a title at the moment. Yes, they have LeBron James. Yes, he is still likely the most dominant player in basketball. All of that aside, the team is too young and too devoid of All-Stars to have a chance at beating even a banged-up version of the Golden State Warriors.
They aren't really even in the same class as the Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets or Milwaukee Bucks right now. The Lakers have a few different paths to contention:
First, they could make a splashy trade at the deadline for a legit sidekick for LeBron. Bradley Beal, John Wall, and Kemba Walker could all end up being realistic solutions to the Lakers' 2nd scorer problem. The Anthony Davis situation will be one to watch closely too as the Lakers are loaded with appealing trade assets.
Any meaningful trade would almost certainly require including at least one of Ingram, Ball, or Kuzma to be involved. My guess is Ingram would be the most likely candidate to get moved. His awkward fit with James combined with his extremely high trade value make him expendable.
The next option is to go out and sign a major free agent in the offseason. Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, Klay Thompson, DeMarcus Cousins, Kemba Walker, and Khris Middleton are some of the names that highlight this upcoming free agent class.
Durant just made some not so inspiring comments about playing with LeBron. Leonard is rumored not to have interest in sharing the court with The King and we all know how the LeBron-Irving Cleveland era ended. Butler and Thompson seem unlikely to leave their current situations as well. Could the Lakers land one of Walker, Cousins, or Middleton with their $40+ million in cap space this summer? Will that be the route they elect to try to go?
Finally, the Lakers could just try to build internally while handing out contracts to below star-level free agents. Here are the current ages of some of their key rotation pieces at the moment: Ingram (21), Ball (21), Kuzma (23), Josh Hart (23), and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (21).
Those young guys certainly have a lot of room to grow as players. That being said, LeBron James is about to turn 34-years-old and who knows when his decline will begin. Personally, I would not expect Magic Johnson and the Lakers front office to bet on a wait-and-see approach.
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