LeBron James had a great game but Anthony Davis was the most important player for the Lakers in a big win over the Clippers.
It’s so good to be back. Before I get into the down and dirty of the Los Angeles Lakers vs. the Los Angeles Clippers, I just wanted to say that. But we had a real game today and it was the play of Anthony Davis that led the Los Angeles Lakers to a victory against the Los Angeles Clippers in the nightcap of tonight’s double-header between the Lakers and Clippers. Davis was incredible with 34 points and eight rebounds, with 12 of his points and five of his rebounds coming in a crucial 3rd quarter, before the Lakers pulled away in the 4th and final quarter.
Altogether, the combination of Davis and James was too much for the Clippers.
AD was the best player on the court tonight but Bron came alive in the fourth to secure the win. đź‘Ź pic.twitter.com/649DXcZBKr
The Clippers were without Montrezl Harrell and Louis Williams on Thursday. It was still a tough game as the Lakers had to withstand 30 points from Paul George and then 28 points from Kawhi Leonard but we all know these battles won’t be done until these two teams play against each other in the postseason.
The Los Angeles Lakers had quite a bit of buckets from their pair of guards Dion Waiters and J.R. Smith on Monday.
The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t have their star players in uniform for Monday’s final of three preseason scrimmages, but the final dress rehearsal before their season opener on Thursday was far from boring, as the two newest Lakers made another good impression.
J.R. Smith had 20 points and five rebounds off the bench while Dion Waiters had 18 points and a team-high six assists in the win against the Washington Wizards. In addition to their bench guys showing out, Alex Caruso had 17 points, including three made 3-pointers. Danny Green also scored 13 points for the Lakers. Overall, the Lakers ended their set of scrimmages on a high note, with Waiters and Smith showing they can still get buckets and have fun doing it, which is truly the brand of basketball this Lakers team plays.
The Lakers now have the next two days off from scrimmages before they start seeding game schedule, beginning on Thursday night against the Los Angeles Clippers, who will be without Lou Williams after the Magic City chicken wing fiasco.
It hasn’t taken very long for the Los Angeles Lakers to enjoy the presence and game of Dion Waiters.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been at the Walt Disney World for over two weeks now and they’ve wasted little time in making a couple of the newest faces on the squad feel welcome. J.R. Smith looked comfortable on Saturday but it was really the reactions the Lakers bench had to the play of Dion Waiters, in particular something that the bench screams everytime Waiters decides to pull-up from the 3-point line: ‘Say Cheese!’ which is of course a reference to one of Waiters’ nicknames, Philly Cheese.
Waiters had 12 points, including two 3-pointers, in Saturday’s scrimmage win over the Orlando Magic. After the scrimmage, Waiters told reporters that Danny Green was the catalyst for the ‘Say Cheese’ cheer, according to Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times.
‘Philly Cheese’ has been one of the nicknames Waiters has gone by since his Miami Heat days. The Lakers will need Waiters to handle the ball even more now that they’ve lost Rajon Rondo but the good news for them is that he and the Lakers look like they’re having a lot of fun together.
Alex Caruso is a fan favorite and target of memes, but the Lakers are definitely counting on him to play a lot.
With the NBA Restart on the horizon, we are going to take stock of who is on the Los Angeles Lakers, what they did, or didn’t do this season, and what to look for as the Lakers look to march towards their 17th championship banner in the most unprecedented circumstances in NBA history.
Alex Caruso
Due to the injury and subsequent surgery for Rajon Rondo, many Lakers fans have been expressed their desire to see an expanded role for fan-favorite Alex Caruso. And Caruso might well have a chance to have the ball in his hands more without Rondo, but what they really need from Caruso, more than taking the reigns of the offense when LeBron sits, is more of what he displayed throughout the regular season.
Caruso’s defense and ability to blend in on the offensive end with star players is what they need the most. His usage rate for a guard ranks in the 8th percentile, according to Cleaning The Glass, so he’s asked to handle it less often than 90% of the guards in the league. Changing that now seems unwise. Asking for Caruso to have the ball more or take more shots also undercuts what he’s so great at. Caruso has been a solid spot-up player, while also being ranked in the 76th percentile in transition opportunities and in the 55th percentile in plays on cuts.
This is the exact type of player that LeBron James can leverage in a situation in which the defense’s attention is locked in on him. While everyone knows that shooters are a key to unlocking LeBron, and Caruso is a solid career 37.5% 3-point shooter, it’s some of the other things that make Caruso even more useful.
Also, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is the frontrunner to start for the Lakers, but without Avery Bradley, we will almost certainly see Caruso and KCP play more together. KCP is a better individual defender and has been a much better shooter from distance in his career. Nevertheless, playing Caruso and KCP together has been a strong look for the Lakers, outscoring opponents by 10.4 points per 100 possessions in 506 minutes over 56 games. While Vogel is intrigued by what Dion Waiters will do in the Rondo role, it’s very possible we see three-guard lineups with Waiters, KCP, and Caruso, as all guys can guard multiple positions.
And back to LeBron being able to take advantage of Caruso, this is the second straight season in which the LeBron-Caruso pairing has been fruitful for L.A. In fact, this year they’ve been twice as good as they were last year, outscoring opponents by 20.8 points per 100 possessions in 485 minutes over 54 games.
Caruso put up some great counting stats at the end of the 2018-19 season when the Lakers let him handle the ball more, but the Lakers aren’t just playing out the string and waiting to trade for Anthony Davis anymore. This is the big time. The Lakers don’t need Caruso to do anything else than what he’s done this season. His athleticism, defense, and willingness to play hard without touching the ball is exactly the type of thing the Lakers need.
The Los Angeles Lakers are looking at Dion Waiters for more contributions with the absence of Rajon Rondo.
With the NBA Restart on the horizon, we are going to take stock of who is on the Los Angeles Lakers, what they did, or didn’t do this season, and what to look for as the Lakers look to march towards their 17th championship banner in the most unprecedented circumstances in NBA history.
Dion Waiters
What the Los Angeles Lakers of Dion Waiters over the next couple of months is something different than they envisioned when they first acquired him in early March. Yes, he’s still a better defender and creator than the player he replaced, Troy Daniels, but he will likely be asked to do more as a lead creator now that the squad will be without Rajon Rondo for the next 6-8 weeks.
Earlier this week, Lakers head coach Frank Vogel alluded to wanting to see more of what Waiters can do with the ball in his hands in light of Rondo’s absence.
Frank Vogel says losing Rajon Rondo puts more of a need for Dion Waiters' skillset, and he looks forward to seeing more of what Waiters can do.
Since his early years in Cleveland, prior to LeBron’s second stint with the Cavaliers that Waiters himself was barely a part of, the one season of him being a creator that stands out was his 2017 season with the Miami Heat. The Heat lacked creators off the dribble that season after Dwyane Wade went to Chicago and Waiters, aka Kobe Wade, stepped into the void.
Waiters, as the creator, led the Heat to a second-half surge that regular season after starting the year with the league’s worst record. His season in Miami, where he shot 39 percent from the 3-point line on high volume and also included an iconic game-winner against the Golden State Warriors, who later that season ran up a 16-1 record in the playoffs on their way to a championship.
Anybody who was watching league pass back in those days can’t help but remember it with a lot of warm feelings. While Waiters’ ankles later required surgery and the Heat squad fell short of the playoffs, Waiters won out, signing a 4-year, $52 million contract with the Heat. However, the rest of his Heat tenure was rather forgettable as injury, role and some salacious headlines held him back.
With the Heat looking for any excuse to get rid of him, Waiters was included in the Andre Iguodala trade with the Memphis Grizzlies, before Memphis waived him. Then in a workout with the Lakers, he apparently impressed them with his athleticism and play, earning the spot, at the time, over his new teammate J.R. Smith. It also certainly doesn’t hurt that Waiters used to be represented by Lakers President Rob Pelinka and is currently repped by Klutch Sports.
If Waiters finds his shooting form while maintaining the strong driving ability and sturdy defense he’s shown in his career, the Lakers may very well thrive on Waiters Island. Waiters’ play as a lead ball-handler in Miami was great to watch and is definitely worth exploring for the Lakers, but he has also shown in the past to be a quality role player alongside two major stars, in his lone playoff appearance with the 2016 Oklahoma City Thunder.
Alongside Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Waiters came off the bench in all 18 of Oklahoma City’s postseason games. He shot a solid 37.5% from the 3-point line during that playoff run, helping power the Thunder to a playoff run that peaked when they took a 3-1 lead over the Golden State Warriors, who eventually came back to win the Western Conference Finals.
With Waiters having had both experiences, both being a lead creator with lesser players and fitting with stars in a deep playoff run, gives the Lakers an asset, no matter which way they intend to use him.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been teasing us with some practice footage of LeBron James working out at Disney World.
The Los Angeles Lakers got back on the court on Wednesday for practice after taking a day off earlier this week for the first time since they arrived at the Disney World Campus, the folks at the Lakers teased us even more with some practice footage from yesterday.
Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy shared some video on Thursday of him putting LeBron James, Alex Caruso, and Dion Waiters through a workout, along with some other practice footage from Disney World.
With the injury to Rajon Rondo and the opt-out decision of Avery Bradley, the Lakers have taken a major hit to their guard depth. That puts even more pressure on LeBron James to create and will also likely lead to bigger ball-handling roles for Alex Caruso and Dion Waiters, who LeBron was working with yesterday.
Earlier in the week, Lakers head coach Frank Vogel told reporters that he is curious to see what Dion Waiters can do in the lead facilitator role in light of Rondo’s absence.
As our refresh of the Lakers roster continues, we take a look at LeBron’s former Cavaliers teammate, 2016 champion J.R. Smith.
With the NBA Restart on the horizon, we are going to take stock of who is on the Los Angeles Lakers, what they did, or didn’t do this season, and what to look for as the Lakers look to march towards their 17th championship banner in the most unprecedented circumstances in NBA history.Â
J.R. Smith
It always felt like this move was in the cards, but it took an NBA stoppage in play, and Avery Bradley choosing to opt-out of the NBA’s restart to make it happen. Nevertheless, J.R. Smith has reunited with LeBron James on the Los Angeles Lakers, as the two try to win their second championship together.
Smith, while he was brought in as Bradley’s replacement, likely won’t be asked to assume the same role that Bradley played, unless the Lakers have a severe shortage of available players. Still, having Smith, a career 37% 3-point shooter in his postseason career, is quite the luxury for the Lakers.
Smith won’t be asked to create out of the pick and roll or out of isolations like Dion Waiters will likely be asked to do in the wake of the Rajon Rondo injury. But what Smith does provide is a rangy defender who can guard multiple spots when he’s locked in and a more reliable playoff 3-point shooter than Bradley.
Also, as Smith himself detailed a few weeks ago, having someone who can Speak LeBron is crucial for a group of guys that have never seen James get locked in on the level he normally is come playoff time. It may be abrasive for some and uncomfortable, but having someone who knows how to communicate and stand up to James in the postseason will be crucial.
The Lakers aren’t light on veterans, with plenty of guys who have been through high-pressure situations. Also, with Smith’s last high-profile NBA moment coming in his Game 1 gaffe in the 2018 Finals, there’s no doubt that Smith would like to make new memory for himself to be remembered by.
The Los Angeles Lakers have to try some different things if they are going to make up for the loss of Rajon Rondo and Avery Bradley.
The Los Angeles Lakers are going to have to start their NBA experience at Disney World with some unfamiliar faces in prominent places. While the Lakers added J.R. Smith to replace Avery Bradley’s place on the roster, the loss of Bradley, as well as the more recent loss of Rajon Rondo, their most experienced operator outside of LeBron James, for at least six weeks, puts even more pressure on James to handle the ball and create for his team.
The Lakers have a few other guards that have played point guard before, including Quinn Cook and Alex Caruso, but given his skill in the pick and roll, Lakers coach Frank Vogel is also curious to look at what Dion Waiters can do as the lead creator at times for L.A.
Frank Vogel says losing Rajon Rondo puts more of a need for Dion Waiters' skillset, and he looks forward to seeing more of what Waiters can do.
Frank Vogel said he expects several guys to pick up the slack with Rajon Rondo out in terms of secondary ballhandling, with Caruso and Cook the most obvious, but he said he’s curious to see what Dion Waiters can do as well. We’ll also see AD/Kuz initiate offense.
Mostly due to injury, we haven’t seen a ton of Waiters running the show in recent seasons. His career-best season in 2016-17 with ended with ankle surgery and he never regained the form or the spot in the rotation, he had in that season in Miami. But that season, as well as the fact that Waiters is only 28, gives Vogel plenty of legitimate reason to look at it as his Rondo alternative.
Waiters has also proven to be a very useful role player before in his career, being a key part of the Oklahoma City Thunder team that had a 3-1 lead over the Warriors. During that postseason, he averaged 27 minutes per game off the bench and shot a solid 37.5% from the 3-point line. And while he may not be the ideal first option to have in the pick and roll, he has the ability to score in isolation as well, something that becomes even more prevalent when the playoffs come around.
Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel told reporters he is likely going to start KCP when they start playing games.
Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel confirmed on Monday afternoon that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will be the likely answer at starting shooting guard, replacing Avery Bradley, who opted out of the restart.
Vogel’s reasoning is pretty sound considering the Lakers went 17-3 in games that KCP started and that KCP played even better when thrust into the starting role, shooting 43% from the 3-point line and over 50% from the field. Of course, he also saw his minutes creep up from 24 minutes per game to 28 minutes per game as a starter. But he actually improved with the bigger role asked of him.
The Lakers went 17-3 when @CaldwellPope started for Avery Bradley in the regular season: "Kentavious did a phenomenal job when Avery was injured earlier in the season,” said Frank Vogel. “That’s really where I’m at in terms of what the starting lineup will look like."
Many fans may be hoping to see Alex Caruso in the starting line-up, but it appears that Caruso will continue in his role coming off the bench, something he’s excelled at all season. In addition to Caruso, the Lakers have Quinn Cook and Dion Waiters, who both have experience at the NBA level running the show for their offenses. Waiters, in particular, is a monster player in the pick and roll and could be asked to do even more traditional point guard duty than the Lakers originally envisioned.
The Los Angeles Lakers lost one of their most experienced players for quite a while at the Orlando bubble.
The first few days of practice for the Los Angeles Lakers led to an unfortunate development for the best team in the Western Conference. Rajon Rondo suffered a broken right thumb that will require surgery, according to ESPN’s Malika Andrews and Dave McMenamin. This is a major loss for the Lakers, as Rondo is their most experienced operator at the point guard spot outside of LeBron James.
The Lakers say Rondo fractured his right thumb. He will undergo surgery and is expected to return to full basketball activities in six to eight weeks. https://t.co/589H5uWYYd
The Lakers definitely have other options and this is another reason why bringing in J.R. Smith and Dion Waiters was important. The Lakers won’t replace Rondo with a substitute player, especially because they probably hope he can be ready to play again if the Lakers have a deep playoff run, which they are expected to.
In addition to more time for Smith and Waiters, the Lakers will also rely even more now on their other guards, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Alex Caruso. Caruso also may get some more time to run the show as the point guard when LeBron needs rest than he did while Rondo was available.
With a smaller traveling coaching staff however, it would not be a surprise to see Rondo be an asset to the coaching staff as he’s often lauded by his teammates for his incredible basketball IQ. While he’s hurt, the respect Rondo carries from his teammates still makes him an important figure for this Lakers group.
