Anatomize wrote:One reason DeMar and Lamb don't compliment eachother is because offensively their top skill is running off screens. It's kind of similar to two bigs working out of the elbow/block area (like Bosh-Jermaine experiment, or Z-Bo/Marc-Gasol). You can see how M. Gasol's numbers are hurt when Randolph is on the floor/healthy compared to when he gets to be the main post up option. Pau Gasol on the other hand can still get decent stats being a PF option next to Bynum because he can shoot mid range and Bynum doesn't operate at the elbow areas.
Having redundant players offensively can be a problem, this will be the case with DeMar and Lamb; which may force Lamb to become more of a spot up/corner guy and less of a 2nd option in the offense. If DeMar plays more off-ball than Lamb (receiving less touches), that means he would have to be in the 3 point spots more often, which is a problem considering he cant shoot 3's well, this will relegate Lamb to a 3rd scorer option. This is why I don't see the two of them being a great fit offensively. DeMar is going to have to severely improve his ball handling/penetration/passing in order for them to work well together.
Otherwise, the only way it will work is if Lamb slides in as a #2 ball handling/scoring option and sets up DeMar for mid range looks and off-ball movement. This of course is coupled with the fact that we still need a penetrating guard that can set up our wings.
You make some good points, but I think some of your player evaluations are slightly off. For example Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum actually don't work that well together, because they both operate at their best on the low block - neither of them are great mid-range shooters, however Pau is passable. Pau played his best basketball for the lakers with Lamar, when he was in the low-post and Lamar was up around the elbow, and he struggled this year when he was forced to work mainly off the mid-range jumper, and Drew got all the low block touches. Z-Bo and Marc Gasol however do compliment each other, because Z-Bo is very comfortable in the mid-range as a shooter, as is Marc - more so than his brother in fact. Both of these big man pairings have players that are most comfortable on the block, but the second group have a much stronger ability to play off the ball.
My point here being just because two players are comfortable doing the same thing doesn't mean they don't compliment each other. Kind of like if you compare Lebron James and D-wade and Paul Pierce and Ray Allen (a couple years ago). Both groups can create their own shot from the wing on their own, but the second group also has at least one player with a strong ability to catch and shoot. While I don't think Demar and Lamb is a great solution long-term, I believe they could be an adequate pairing - with Demar playing a more Paul Pierce type role (posting up and working out of the high elbow area) and Lamb (catching at the three pointline and breaking his man down from there) assuming a bit more of an (early) Ray Allen role.
I guess I agree with your assessment of Demar at the end of your post, he needs to become a better ball handler/passer/scoring option - but I don't think that has anything to do with him being successful with Lamb so much as just becoming a successful NBA player.
