Lonzo's role this season

[dockingsched]

Considering that Lonzo isn't really an on the ball scoring threat in any capacity and watching Rondo tonight and seeing how much better he is at attacking in the halfcourt offense than Lonzo, it made me kind of question what role exactly Lonzo is supposed to fill this season.

With Lebron being Lebron, the aggressiveness of Hart/Kuzma, and the ball handling duties that Ingram is still being given, where exactly is Zo going to fit in other than outlet passes to push the pace? more than just rust/conditioning, it seemed like Lonzo was just expected to get out of the way and spot up tonight.

seems to me like the only way he's going to find a role is if its forced by Luke by benching Rondo and curtailing the other players aggressiveness by calling Lonzo's number in the halfcourt.

anyone else concerned that Lonzo is going to really struggle to find his place on this roster?

[TyCobb]

Nope. He's too in sync with Luke. Lonzo, Hart, and Kuzma will all find themselves into the starting lineup.

[milesfides]

Of course. Lebron is who he is based on career history. He’s all about King Lebron, he has little loyalty beyond his personal brand. These are facts.

He has zero qualms about selling our young core for whomever he deems fit for his own game in the short term.

Lonzo will definitely be a casualty skillwise and Kuzma position wise. This is why I’m saying that Lebron is a detriment to our future. You can’t build a franchise on a 34 year old player. That’s never worked. Ever.

[Fedor]

He’ll work his way into the starting spot soon

[Dr Aki]

All I really want from him is aggression.

Just be aggressive in everything he tries to do

[evilpimp972]

Not sure, but having him coming off the bench while he isnt instant offense is kinda weird.

But hey lets trade him so we can keep a 32 yo rondo who can help us winning a chip this year

[infintybeyond]

Of course. Lebron is who he is based on career history. He’s all about King Lebron, he has little loyalty behind his personal brand. These are facts.

He has zero qualms about selling our young core for whomever he deems fitting for his own game in the short term.

Lonzo will definitely be a casualty skillwise and Kuzma position wise. This is why I’m saying that Lebron is a detriment to our future. You can’t build a franchise on a 34 year old player. That’s never worked. Ever.

Lebron isn't the problem though. He's trying to work with these guys, and his effort in doing so is showing.

Kuzma is playing out of position. He just isn't big enough nor good enough defensively to hold his own at center, and it is compounded by Lebron's lack of defense as well. They essentially have two bad defenders at the 4 and 5 spot. This can be remedied if the others help with rebounding and defense. Another issue is his shot hasn't been falling. He made some great timely cuts and found other ways to score, but they desperately need his 3pt shot to drop at a high clip.

Lonzo still can't shoot. It was a huge problem last year and looks like it will be a huge problem this year. It's his fault he didn't improve fully knowing that it was easily his worst attribute. It's nice that he is setting picks, but he doesn't/can't roll (bad finisher) and can't shoot. It's kind of a useless motion because it does not disrupt the defense when the defense knows he isn't a threat. At this point, he doesn't really have any skills on offense except for passing. His lack of scoring ability really hinders his place in the offense especially when playing off ball.

With all that said, I think he should start. It will help with his confidence, and he can ease into the game. It will also help his game playing with better scorers vs playing with the second unit.

[Laker_Kid]

Zo needs to be consistent, learn to be more aggressive, stay healthy, and work his way up to the starting lineup by All Star Break.

[Slava]

The value of Lonzo is not this year but from the next year forwards if we sign another max free agent and need production on rookie scale contracts. Lonzo becomes the de facto PG by then. I sitll expect him to take over from Rondo sometime this season, he's too good of a defender and passer not to do so. The one key is him playing off the ball in half court when LeBron or BI becomes the lead ball handler.

[LakersSoul]

Everyone will have to make adjustments to the betterment of the team.

Lonzo has so much potential and can easily guard 1-3 so he can find a role with the team especially
considering his team defense. Lonzo doesnt need the ball in his hands so that much easier to be effective.
I can easily see Lonzo and Rondo playing together and really mixing up the roster.

Right now, Lonzo is still regaining his wind and still on minute restrictions. Give him a month to dust the rust off
and get back to his form. He started slow the first 3 games but have shown flashes of his greatness from last year and
a much better shooting form. He also has attacked the rim more but we got to give him time to adjust to the team and new
players.

[AcecardZ]

Overreacting to one game doesn’t help anything. Let’s see what he looks like after game ten.

[Spens1]

15MPG off the bench if he keeps this up, he was horrible and worst thing was, he wasn't even hustling. Compare that to what Rondo was doing.

Oh yeah his shooting is still worse than Shaq's. What was this guy working on in the offseason.

[AcecardZ]

15MPG off the bench if he keeps this up, he was horrible and worst thing was, he wasn't even hustling. Compare that to what Rondo was doing.

Oh yeah his shooting is still worse than Shaq's. What was this guy working on in the offseason.

Rehabilitating his knee afaik...

[Spens1]

15MPG off the bench if he keeps this up, he was horrible and worst thing was, he wasn't even hustling. Compare that to what Rondo was doing.

Oh yeah his shooting is still worse than Shaq's. What was this guy working on in the offseason.

Rehabilitating his knee afaik...

Rehabbing your knee doesn't lead to 2-7 and 1-4 from beyond the arc.

[RamonSessions7]

15MPG off the bench if he keeps this up, he was horrible and worst thing was, he wasn't even hustling. Compare that to what Rondo was doing.

Oh yeah his shooting is still worse than Shaq's. What was this guy working on in the offseason.

Rehabilitating his knee afaik...

Rehabbing your knee doesn't lead to 2-7 and 1-4 from beyond the arc.

In your first game back from it? I'm sure it could lead to that. His defense is needed as Rondo most of the time gave me IT flashbacks on that end.

Like doc mentioned, my main concern for Lonzo is his questionable ability to fit with this group on the ball in a half court offense, but I see it coming around. His cutting/off the ball play/outlet passes/hockey assist ball movement should all fit in well with what is out there. His shot still needs to come around but obviously still extremely early in his career, and early in getting back on the court this year. He looked rusty and straight up out of it in parts of his limited debut last night, but a lot of guys who aren't 20 and coming off a knee injury looked horribly lost out there on defensive and offensive positioning too.

Plus he's a 100% FT shooter now, so we're gonna be fine.

[thebigbird]

Of course. Lebron is who he is based on career history. He’s all about King Lebron, he has little loyalty beyond his personal brand. These are facts.

He has zero qualms about selling our young core for whomever he deems fit for his own game in the short term.

Lonzo will definitely be a casualty skillwise and Kuzma position wise. This is why I’m saying that Lebron is a detriment to our future. You can’t build a franchise on a 34 year old player. That’s never worked. Ever.

Yes the Lakers are in a terrible position with the best player in the world locked into a four year contract. If Lonzo gets traded it's because he wasn't good enough to be off limits. That's on Lonzo, not Lebron.

And, it's one game. Maybe wait a bit before overreacting?

[TylersLakers]

Of course. Lebron is who he is based on career history. He’s all about King Lebron, he has little loyalty beyond his personal brand. These are facts.

He has zero qualms about selling our young core for whomever he deems fit for his own game in the short term.

Lonzo will definitely be a casualty skillwise and Kuzma position wise. This is why I’m saying that Lebron is a detriment to our future. You can’t build a franchise on a 34 year old player. That’s never worked. Ever.

Heel Miles is a strange thing.

I think he'll eventually work his way into the starting line-up. But it's the right call to start Rondo right now that's for sure. His first shift was so bad last night that I think it lead to a 19 minute night instead of a 23-25 minute night.

There's a few line-ups I'd like to see, possibly even starting:

Rondo/Lonzo/Ingram/LeBron/Kuzma - 3 playmakers
Lonzo/Hart/Ingram/LeBron/McGee (a line-up that looked extremely good in the 3rd quarter)
Lonzo/Hart/Svi/Kuzma/Beasley (small line-ups)

[Sedale Threatt]

Knee-jerk hot take: New Lonzo looks a hell of a lot like old Lonzo.

[milesfides]

It still comes down to Lonzo's three-point shooting.

Rondo is a better short-term option for LeBron. Rondo added the three-pointer to his game the past few seasons, and of course he's still a great playmaker.

However, it's a poor long term move. Rondo's defense has slipped, he turns 33 this season, and he's a free agent next summer.

It makes more sense to develop Lonzo as much as possible. Start Lonzo, give him confidence to shoot that three, and make him feel that he belongs among the league's best players. Which he will, if he starts hitting that three.

And playing next to Lebron with the starters, it should actually help Lonzo's shooting, because Lonzo's highest 3-point percentage in both attempts and makes (33%) was catch-and-shooting.

Relegated to the 2nd unit, Lonzo will rely much more on pull-ups (29%) as the primary ballhandler.

[gts1]

We'll see after Ball knocks some of the rust off but at this pace if he doesn't improve or make himself a valuable member of the roster I see him more as trade bait... if he continues to just take the ball up court and pass it off then disappear on offense i don't see a need for him.. what he was doing last night can be replicated by any number of guys