Sitting at 11-4 after their first 15 games, the Lakers are feeling pretty good about themselves. Luka Dončić is dancing. Austin Reaves is embracing. And LeBron James is meshing.
Although the vibes are vibing,
the next chapter of the season may be more indicative of who this team actually is now that it is whole. That said, there are things we have already learned. And at the same time, things that remain murky.
So for the first time this year, let’s crack open the notebook and see what’s piqued my interest.
Jarred Vanderbilt: The man who disappeared
When the Lakers took the floor against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night, they did so with their full roster available.
LeBron James returned from his bout with sciatica. Gabe Vincent was back after a left ankle sprain. And Maxi Kleber and Adou Thiero both were also recently added to the fold. For the first time all season — including the preseason — the Lakers were whole.
The natural reaction to addition, however, is subtraction. With more players inserted into the team’s game of musical chairs, it is Jarred Vanderbilt who is currently finding himself without a seat when the music stops.
In the Lakers’ prior game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Vanderbilt played just seven minutes despite the team being without James, Vincent, Marcus Smart and Rui Hachimura. With everyone back against the Jazz, JJ Redick played a whopping 13 players, with the only omission being Vanderbilt.
Although the rotation will expectantly be in a state of flux with Redick having more options at his disposal, the first casualty seems to be Vanderbilt. And given those ahead of him in the depth chart and his own start to the year, it is difficult to argue against the decision.
Not only do Hachimura and James expect to soak up a majority of the forward minutes, but players like Jake LaRavia, and as seen recently, Kleber and Thiero have seemed to have lept Vanderbilt on the call sheet.
Vanderbilt being able to slide down and grab some playing time at center even seems unlikely. With DeAndre Ayton stabilizing the position and Jaxson Hayes’ serviceably backing him up, the need for a small-ball look has not been as essential as compared to last year.
Even if Vanderbilt remains the team’s most versatile defender, his offense continues to be so limited that it bogs down his overall impact.
His finishing around the rim continues to be an adventure, as does his 3-point stroke. After internet sleuths scrubbed the footage of Vanderbilt splashing corner 3’s in an empty gym like it was Bigfoot evidence, he’s shown little to no improvement in actual games, shooting just 28.6% from downtown.
To make matters worse, Vanderbilt’s offensive rebound rate is down 3.4% compared to last year and has as many turnovers (22) as field goals made.
Despite all this, Vanderbilt will likely find his way back on the floor. Whether it’s due to an injury or a situational matchup, he still has skills that very few other players on the roster possess. It just may be less in the spotlight than it was before.
More of a submarine throwing reliever that comes on to face a lefty than an everyday player.
DeAndre Ayton’s impeccable touch
Even the most bullish fan of the DeAndre Ayton signing has to be impressed with the start to his Lakers’ career.
The counting numbers are encouraging, the motor has revved and his ego has not abandoned him, but rather, fine-tuned to the right frequency.
After his sour exit from Phoenix and inconsistent stint in Portland, Ayton’s perception around the league was polarizing at best. His biggest critics bashed his effort level, his commitment to the sport and his impact on winning. That hasn’t been the case in Los Angeles, at least not so far.
The effort has been there, which helps. But so has the one thing that even his harshest skeptics have to hand to him — the man has a sweet touch.
Unlike most bigs, Ayton’s ability to finish around the rim, and most notably from the midrange, is skill-based rather than force. This fact has frustrated previous fanbases and likely even teammates. But on this roster, it is actually his biggest strength.
Due to setting screens for the likes of Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves and now LeBron James, Ayton often finds himself catching passes in his favorite area of the floor, every time. And he’s delivered once there.
As if blessed by Midas himself, Ayton is shooting an unbelivable 63% from the midrange and 70% on his 2-point attempts overall to start the year. And when accounting for shot quality, Ayton has shot 8.1% higher than expected according to the league’s tracking data. That’s currently the seventh-best mark in the NBA.
Between his apt timing on his picks and ability to burn defenses for blitzing or shocking the ball against his guards in the short roll, Ayton’s chemistry with the team’s stars has only grown.
As of this article, Dončić and Reaves are both in the top-10 in the league in assists to a single teammate. Among those top-10 assist combos, Ayton is the only player who appears twice.
It remains to be seen if Ayton can continue his strong step in revitalizing his career. But as long as he keeps catching the ball at the free-throw line and below, history has shown that thing is going to go in.
The next ten games
After withstanding a deluge of games missed from key players and a road-heavy slate of games, the Lakers are about to enter a potentially soft pocket of their schedule that could help them maintain their momentum.
Despite six of their next ten games being away from Los Angeles, and facing two sets of back-to-backs, their opponents during the stretch currently have a combined winning percentage of only .466%. According to Positive Residual, it’s the eighth-easiest strength of schedule in the league during the upcoming span.
It is always a worthwhile reminder that there are no easy games in the NBA, regardless of what the record states. However, for a team that will have to work James back into the flow of things and reconfigure their rotation as a result, having to do so against struggling teams certainly will help.
Given how shorthanded they have been up to this point, the Lakers have won several games that many wouldn’t have expected. But now that they are healthy, they have to keep doing so, all while trying to figure out a new set of challenges at the same time.
All stats courtesy of Cleaning the Glass unless otherwise stated. You can follow Alex on Bluesky at @alexregla.bsky.social.
