The Lakers are hoping to rebound from their worst season in franchise history last year. One thing that should help with that is new head coach Luke Walton, who's coming over from being an assistant with the Golden State Warriors.
There is expectation that Walton will try and implement some of what the Warriors do with this young Lakers squad. Easier said than done.
One exciting young player who may benefit under the new scheme is Larry Nance, Jr. Nance is a great athlete who hasn't proven much else yet in his young NBA career. He has set his sights pretty high under Walton, though:
“Definitely,” Nance, Jr. told Alex Kennedy on the Basketball Insiders podcast when asked if he could play the Draymond Green-role for the Lakers in Walton’s Warriors’ inspired offense. “That's kind of how I played this summer league. You know, just get the ball off the rim, take it myself, make decisions on the break, run that high pick-and-roll with D'Angelo (Russell), and when he drops it off to me, I turn into a point forward.”
The Lakers are going to definitely need playmaking from the four if they plan on resembling the Warriors. That responsibility will lie with Nance, as well as Julius Randle.
In his rookie season, Nance had just 44 assists in 63 games. There's some work to be done and it will be quite the surprise if he starts flashing playmaking skills early on next season.