The Lakers, and specifically head coach JJ Redick, hit a breaking point on Christmas after their loss to the Rockets. After a strong start to the season, things have gone off the rails over the last week.
Redick’s postgame press conference had the tone of someone ready to make a lot of changes. Austin Reaves’ injury will necessitate some changes, but more should and seemingly will come.
The Lakers’ issues are deeper than any one change can fix. On top of that, a lineup or rotation change isn’t going to make the Lakers any better defensively, nor is that alone going to increase their effort level. But the status quo is clearly broken, so let’s look at some of the options the Lakers could explore to the lineup and rotation.
Bench Rui Hachimura
Rui has become this team’s version of Taurean Prince in that he is a lightning rod for criticism from fans. Some of it is deserved, but in looking at potential starting lineup changes, he sticks out.
Realistically, the Lakers currently start three players who, at least defensively, should be considered power forwards in Luka Dončić, LeBron James and Rui. They’ve been forcing a square peg into a round hole this year and while it worked for a while, that’s no longer the case.
In reality, this could be a move that helps Rui. At times, he gets lost in the shuffle in the starting lineup. Moving him to the bench and giving him more opportunities against second units can both help get him going and also help the Lakers’ putrid bench production this season.
The nature and tone of Redick’s comments after the Christmas blowout made it seem like a big change is on the table and potentially coming. Luka, LeBron and Deandre Ayton are locks in the lineup, leaving Rui the odd man out when looking at potential shake-ups.
Start Marcus Smart
Because of the injury to Reaves, this one is basically a stone cold lock. Smart will be starting, but he also probably shouldn’t come out of the starting lineup the rest of the season.
At the start of the year, Smart was out of the starting lineup largely due to an injury that had him behind the eight ball. Then, the Lakers were winning and making a change like that is harder to do when things are working. But things are not working now and it’s time for Smart to make his way into the starting lineup, a spot many expected him to be this season.
Start Jarred Vanderbilt
This is a bigger change and one I don’t think Redick will make. For one, if Rui is benched, I would imagine his spot would go to Jake LaRavia, not Vando. But allow me to make the argument for Vando.
Right now, the Lakers’ defense is appalling. If the main concern is approving that, inserting your two best defenders, Smart and Vando, is the solution.
The concern is that, offensively, your spacing will be nonexistent. Vando is not respected as a shooter and still has a long way to go to prove he can consistently knock down shots from range. Smart is a very hot and cold shooter. Both are going to get lots of open looks and there will be a lot asked of LeBron and Luka with this starting unit.
But this lineup is a defensive-first option and it’s the best solution the Lakers have in that regard.
Add Adou Thiero to the rotation
There is a very real chance this is not a solution. Thiero has had some pretty mixed-to-bad minutes so far. He’s looked like a rookie more often than not.
But LA is at such an athleticism deficit that he looks like a superhero on the floor alongside the rest of the Lakers. There are still going to be lots of learning curves for him this year, but let him learn on the floor and see if he has something to offer.
There’s a real chance his offensive limitations make him unplayable. His youthful naivete may prove more bad than good defensively. But there’s also a chance his energy and athleticism provides a spark for a team in need of both.
Surround LeBron with athleticism
This is a building a bit off the previous points — and a point made by our own Darius Soriano — but the lineups needed around LeBron are different than before. In his prime, the idea was to give LeBron four shooters and you were guaranteed to have an elite offense.
Those days are gone now, though. Instead, the best way to utilize LeBron is with athletes around him that can do some of the dirty work, fly around defensively and get out in transition.
As noted, the Lakers don’t have a lot of athleticism on the roster. But they should make the best of what they have and put guys like Jaxson Hayes, Vando or even Thiero with LeBron. An idealized version of Dalton Knecht would make sense in this lineup, too, but he’s a shell of himself now.
Luka and LeBron are going to have to stagger pretty heavily now with Reaves out. In those LeBron-only lineups, give him some guys who can get out and go and see what happens.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
