We might not even see both JR Smith and Dion Waiters take the floor in Orlando. As exciting as it may sound to have both newly acquired swingmen wear the Purple and Gold, Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel isn't making any premature decisions just yet. The first year head coach cleared things when he spoke to the media on Monday.
“Obviously both of them are super talented, and they can play and they can contribute, and they can help. But we have a great deal of depth even without Avery on our team at the wing spot. Obviously with LeBron handling a lot of times as the point guard, you can play a lot of shot-making wings with him. So we’re going to have versatility,” Vogel explained about the Lakers (per silverscreenandroll.com)
The Lakers picked up both Smith and Waiters during this mid-season break ahead of the upcoming NBA restart. These two vets would hopefully fill in the void in the Lakers roster after starting guard Avery Bradley announced that he was opting out of the season due to health reasons of his family.
Vogel added, “I don’t know exactly where they’re going to fit in to a rotation, whether it’s going to be both of them, one of them, neither of them on certain nights, those answers will play out over the two, three weeks of training camp, scrimmages and seeding games. But they’ll have opportunities in those seeding games to show what they do, and how they fit into this group.”
Given that homecourt advantage isn't going to be huge when it comes to this year's playoffs, Vogel and the rest of his Lakers coaching staff can experiment a bit with their new shooters in the lineup come the seeding games. Hopefully for Los Angeles, both Smith and Waiters will be ready when either of their numbers are called.
Follow Us
Subscribe