Post#79 » by Ainosterhaspie » Tue Oct 1, 2019 6:20 pm
Danny Green is an elite role player and a perfect two guard next to LeBron.
--
Avery Bradley has played high-level defense at times in the past. He is still in his prime age. He has lost a bunch of weight so he should be quicker and more able to return to that high-level defensive form. The Lakers have a defensive-minded coach.
--
With Bradley and Green the Lakers have quality perimeter defense. But they also have great players backing them up in Lebron, Davis, Howard, and McGee. If they focus on defense and those guys lock-in in the playoffs that is going to be a very difficult team to score against.
LeBron is no longer the high energy elite defender he once was, but he is still smart, with good instincts and size. Playing next to other good defenders with good support behind him should allow him to see a defensive resurgence. This is not because he suddenly becoming a better defender, but because good defense breeds further good defense.
--
Big men generally need someone to be very good at running the offense. You can't just throw it in to them the whole time and expect a high-level offense. Someone needs to be able to set them up but also to be able to ensure points are being produced when plays are not going through them. Davis has not had a high-level playmaker who can generate a high volume of points either personally or for the other players on the team. James can do that and should really unlock Davis's full potential. Think Kareem and Magic/Oscar, Shaq and Kobe/Wade.
--
In the playoffs teams do not go as deep into the bench. A 7 to 8 man rotation can be enough to get a team to a title. Being able to go deep into the bench to the 9th 10th and 11th man is nice but not a necessity. Those guys just need to be available in limited situations where their strengths can be used without their weaknesses being exploited too badly.
A rotation of Howard, McGee, Davis, James, Kuzma, Green and Bradley is a good starting point for a solid playoff roster. With those guys eating up the bulk of the minutes the Lakers will be a difficult team to contend with.
Size is starting to get back in fashion. Teams like the Raptors and Sixers are difficult to contend with because of their size. The Lakers will present similar problems for other teams. A lineup such as Green/Kuzma/James/Davis/McGee will make it difficult for teams to force the issue with small ball. That lineup can switch everything on the perimeter and will be difficult to score on inside because there are so many big guys in it.
If necessary the Lakers can go small as well and still be a very dangerous looking team. In fact their small lineup really doesn't need to be that small. Something like Bradley/Green/James/Kuzma/Davis could be their small ball lineup which would still have the potential to punish teams inside with their size.
It will be difficult to create meaningful matchup advantages against the Lakers. Their roster has plenty of flexibility for them to contend with teams that are trying to play big or teams that are trying to play small. They should often be able to be the team that forces others to adapt to them rather than the other way around.
--
The shortcomings of Bosh and Love have people underestimating the potential of the James/Davis pairing. Davis won't be a third option like those guys were. He will be a second option and often a first option. Davis is a vastly superior defender compared to Love and is a much better roll man than either one of those guys.
LeBron/Davis pick and rolls will be very difficult to defend especially if surrounded by reasonably competent floor spacers. Bradley, Caruso, Cook, Green and Dudley are all guys who may not be terrifying from three, but you can't exactly leave them wide open at the line either. Is Kuzma the 30% guy from last season or the 37% guy the year before. Even if he just splits the difference, it's enough to require guys to pay attention to him.
That's a lot of guys to open up rim attacks for Davis and James. They don't all need to be hitting at high percentages either. As long as two or three of them do, the Lakers will be a really tough team to stop offensively.
--
The Lakers will be able to run out elite defensive lineups, elite offensive lineups, big lineups, small lineups and balanced lineups. Their ability to play many ways will mean they cause matchup problems for most teams.
Not only that, the biggest problem for Davis teams has been that they fall apart when he's not on the floor. Same for James teams. With those two guys on the team, one can be on the floor all the time and mitigate that problem. They should be a terror when playing together.
Only 7 Players in NBA history have 21,000 points, 5,750 assists and 5,750 rebounds. LeBron has double those numbers.
