The Los Angeles Lakers will ring in 2022 with more problems than solutions. Ahead of their final game of the 2021 — a home matchup vs. the Portland Trail Blazers — the Lakers sit at 17-19, mired by a flawed roster and no cohesiveness.
As the calendar turns, here are five New Year's resolutions the Lakers should make.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5c6tXfQrG0wOUKZ4v7F8Bc?si=0646a3563b784967
1) Keep Stanley Johnson (and move on from DeAndre Jordan)
The Lakers have found a keeper in Stanley Johnson. In three games with the Lakers, the SoCal native has already flummoxed James Harden in the fourth quarter on Christmas, played 31 minutes and started in the win over the Houston Rockets, and has generally proven himself to be a difference-maker on a team that has been devoid of athletic defensive hounds on the wing. Los Angeles should pick up his contract for the rest of the season, like, yesterday.
Stanley Johnson playing better defense in 10 seconds than the entire team the whole season 🤷♂️
— Lakers Global 🌎💜💛 (@LakersGlobal) December 26, 2021
The impending trade of Rajon Rondo means the Lakers will not be forced to cut a player, assuming they let Jemerrio Jones and Darren Collison's hardship contracts run out without re-upping either one. But even if they don't have to waive DeAndre Jordan, they should move on from the veteran center, in one way or another.
Jordan is no longer a rotation-caliber NBA player — per the numbers and the eye test. He directly makes the Lakers worse. The Lakers have already begun downsizing, despite AD's injury — deploying more LeBron-at-center lineups. Dwight Howard (and eventually AD) are simply better options when they do need a traditional big.
If the Lakers want to add a player via buyout, Jordan should get the ax. Until then, Frank Vogel — who has inexplicably started DJ 18 times and has a proclivity to use two bigs — needs to resist the temptation to call his number. Nothing personal.
2) Tighten the rotation
The 2021-22 Lakers have yet to establish any type of identity. Part of this is not their fault — they've had almost no time with their full roster and zero lineup consistency. It's also a consequence of retooling an entire roster. Either way, the Lakers need to streamline the process. The schedule is too daunting and their position in the standings is too tenuous. The clock is ticking.
Once at full strength, the Lakers need to commit to a tighter rotation, even if it excludes qualified players. Kent Bazemore? Didn't break his funk in time. Dwight Howard? Only in short spurts against big teams. Wayne Ellington? Got outplayed by Malik Monk. Even Talen Horton-Tucker may have to be pulled if he doesn't sort of his current issues.
LeBron, Russ, AD, Ariza, Nunn, THT, Reaves, Monk, Melo (in fewer minutes), and Stanley Johnson. Those should be the 10 regulars, eventually. Play AD at the 5, and go centerless for the bulk of the minutes when he's off the floor.
3) Limit the turnovers
After the Lakers' loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, LeBron James and David Fizdale called out the Lakers continued sloppiness with the rock.
“There’s a difference between careless turnovers and attack turnovers,” LeBron said. “We gotta cut down on our careless turnovers — the ones that’s just unforced. We’re gonna have attack turnovers, which is OK. We have a lot of attackers and we understand that. But, the careless turnovers, where, literally, you just turn the ball over and there’s no pressure or there’s no reason for it, those are the ones that get us in trouble.”
The Lakers are 28th in turnovers per game (15.9). Westbrook is second in the NBA (4.7), and LeBron is tied for 1oth (3.5).
Vogel, and now Fizdale, have repeatedly preached making the “easy play” and prioritizing the open man over hero ball. The Lakers have been at their best when the ball is swinging.
As one of the worst rebounding teams in the league, losing the turnover battle almost certainly means losing the possession game and taking fewer shots than the other team. The Lakers' defense isn't good enough to survive when this happens, especially against the playoff-caliber teams that will comprise the bulk of their remaining slate.
4) Convert the bunnies!
Westbrook's blown layups, often late in games, have become nightly fodder on Lakers Twitter, and glaring exemplifications of his shortcomings and decline. He shot 4-of-15 around the rim on Christmas Day. He's missed six dunks on 15 attempts this season.
I WANT RUSSELL WESTBROOK ARRESTED IMMEDIATELY https://t.co/fukmdy5BVz
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) December 30, 2021
For the third straight season, the Lakers rank in the bottom three in basketball in free throw percentage (72.7%), negating the fact that they're taking the fifth-most.
There's no clear fix for this — I asked Frank Vogel — nor the layup issue. Nevertheless, a higher conversion rate of the easiest shots in the sport would profoundly help, especially considering how frequently they find themselves in nail-biters.
I asked Frank Vogel if the Lakers' free-throw shooting struggles are an issue going forward, and how they can improve their performance from the line. (They currently rank 27th in FT%, about where they've been the past two seasons.)
Vogel's answer: "Honor your work" pic.twitter.com/hk2PvfWpqp
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) October 29, 2021
5) Ease LeBron's workload
LeBron, at age 37, is playing 37.2 minutes per game — second in the NBA. For as brilliant as he still is, that's absurd and in no way ideal. Remember: LeBron has been susceptible to injury in three of his four seasons in Los Angeles.
Here's what Vogel said about LeBron's minutes earlier this month.
“We’re always monitoring his load and just being intelligent with it. … The totality is I think less of a concern than if he played a triple-overtime game and then you played the next night, do you exercise caution in those instances? It’s just something that literally we monitor on a daily basis. We rely on the medical team and feedback on how he’s feeling and make smart decisions.”
The Lakers' revamped medical team is taking an individualized approach to how they manage each player. LeBron has repeatedly said that he prefers to play big minutes rather than load-managing.
“I also feel worse when I play low minutes,” he said before the season began.
I understand James choosing to carry an outsized load as the team is short-handed. Recently, he posited that playing the five is actually easier on him physically. The Lakers continue to struggle when he sits.
But, when they presumably get healthy in the New Year, they'll need to scale back his responsibility. After all, this is why Rob Pelinka LeBron James acquired Russell Westbrook, right?
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