At 12-9, the Los Angeles Lakers are who their record says they are, a good but not great team.
If they were the Detroit Pistons or San Antonio Spurs, they would be a record to get excited about. However, the Lakers aren’t a rebuilding team trying to find its way. They’re a veteran-laden squad trying to find its way. One with serious hopes of reaching the NBA Finals at that.
To this point, the finger-pointing has primarily been used to single out LeBron James as he needs his 40th birthday. Nonetheless, L.A.’s problems extend far beyond King James’s throne.
Identifying Solutions To Lakers’ Early Season Problems
Adjusting The Defense
Though the focus has often been on the Lakers’ offense, their defense is their real Achilles heel. On the perimeter, they can’t trust anyone to prevent lane penetration. One of the main culprits is starting point guard Austin Reaves, who is all but a turnstile.
However, their issues keeping their man in front are exacerbated by their lack of rim-protection. This may seem counterintuitive given that Anthony Davis is a perennial All-Defensive Team candidate. Yet, it’s the Lakers’ reality. L.A.’s switch-heavy defensive scheme constantly forces Davis away from the basket and teams take advantage of it.
Compounding the problem is the fact that nobody is feared as a help defender. James hasn’t been playing with enough juice as he tries to keep Father Time at bay. Rui Hachimura has never really been much of a weakside shot-blocker due to a lack of tenacity and feel for it.
In their attempt to rectify this issue, the Lakers could go in several directions.
They could try to get more out of their starting frontcourt, namely James and Hachimura, by pushing the right buttons. They could play Davis in a drop defense more often, allowing him to take advantage of his shot-blocking instincts. This option could also allow their perimeter defenders to gamble more on steals. To that point, L.A. ranks just 22nd with 0.075 steals per possession. Lastly, the Lakers could play more zone defense, closing driving gaps but leaving themselves vulnerable from beyond the arc.
The Right Personnel
Unless or until they get better defensive personnel, the correct choice would probably be a combination of those three options. To that point, several perimeter players who are available for trade could help them, including: Torrey Craig (Chicago Bulls), Jae’Sean Tate (Houston Rockets), Bruce Brown (Toronto Raptors), and Dorian Finney-Smith (Brooklyn Nets).
Adding another shot-blocker, such as Charlotte Hornets center Nick Richards, could be a sharp move as well.
Sharpening The Offense
The Lakers rank 17th in points per game (112.3) and 19th in three-point percentage (.349). However, they’re also 10th in field goal percentage (.476) and 12th in assists per game (26.4). Furthermore, while it’s often a talking point, only four teams have a lower turnover average (13.0).
Given their personnel, this is par for the course. That’s particularly true when considering their performance from beyond the arc, and one reason why potential trade targets like Bulls wing Zach LaVine makes sense for them. In fact, LaVine’s three-point percentage (.429) is on par with Dalton Knecht, who is already a heralded sharpshooter.
Without a transaction to help, all the Lakers could do is hope that players like D’Angelo Russell start to regress towards the mean. To this point in the season, he’s shooting just 30.6 percent from deep. For context, he’s made 36.8 percent of his career threes. Reaves and Max Christie are also better outside threats than they’ve shown thus far in 2024-25.
LeBron James’s Jammed Signals
James coming back down to Earth after his sizzling start from beyond the arc isn’t ideal. However, if their gameplan relied on him being efficient from outside, the Lakers may have been doomed from the start anyways. Instead, L.A. needs to focus on getting him to make better decisions.
Over the years, James has become a bit of a turnover machine. He’s still one of the top playmakers in the NBA but his many of his passes are more telegraphed, off-target, or just plain reckless than they should be. This season, James is tied for the 346th-worst turnover rate among players averaging at least 15 minutes per game.
Though the Lakers rank in the better half of the league in opponent’s average points off of turnovers (17.0), James clearly has a problem. With that being said, he’s too much of a focal point to not take better care of the ball and ultimately his team’s possessions. Unfortunately, the problems with his decision-making don’t stop there.
As difficult as it is to tell someone of James’s stature which shots are good ones, he takes too many ill-advised attempts. Instead of consistently passing to the open man when he sees a closeout or is doubled, he plays hero ball. This might be a sign he doesn’t truly trust enough of his teammates (or his teammates enough) though. If so, it’s imperative that the Lakers get him some more teammates that he can put his faith in.
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