LeBron James was handcuffed by the Los Angeles Lakers' free-agent signings during his debut season with the league's glamor franchise. After an offseason spent rebuilding the team following the ouster of Luke Walton, departure of Magic Johnson, and acquisition of Anthony Davis, the four-time MVP will apparently be put in a much better position to succeed going forward than he was in 2018-19.

Lakers first-year coach Frank Vogel stressed that his team would prioritize spacing this season, mimicking the style of play that drove Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard to so much individual success with the Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors, respectively.

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“The style of play is an important piece of this,” Vogel said, per Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. “I actually did not disagree with a lot of the things that Luke Walton did stylistically in terms of playing with pace, really attacking the basket and being the one of the leading free throws shooting teams. And they worked hard on the defensive end. But to me it was about putting LeBron James in positions to try to play with space the way Giannis Antetokounmpo did with Brook Lopez being added as a three-point shooter, with what Kawhi Leonard was able to have in Toronto with Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka at the center position.”

Los Angeles addressed its dire need for shooting in free agency, adding Danny Green, Quinn Cook, and Troy Daniels. While the Lakers also brought in DeMarcus Cousins and retained re-signed JaVale McGee, expect Vogel to maximize room for James to operate by frequently playing lineups featuring Davis at center.