Ryan Kelly has not truly had a solid role for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2014-15 campaign. Of course, much of that is due to his struggle with injuries throughout training camp, and more recently a hamstring tear that has sidelined him from playing any meaningful time this season.
But, even coming into the year, it was difficult to pinpoint exactly where Ryan Kelly would exactly slot in for this edition of the Lakers.
It was assumed going into the first portion of the new season that Carlos Boozer and Jordan Hill would start (they did) and that some combination of Julius Randle, Ed Davis, and Robert Sacre would eat up the majority of the minutes inside due to either developmental or defensive reasons.
Throw in the idea that Byron Scott was cutting down the use of the long-range shot for the Lakers, and it was tough to see exactly how Scott would opt to utilize a stretch-four like Ryan Kelly.
Then Ryan Kelly tore his hamstring, and it never was able to play out; until now.
More from Hoops Habit
- The 5 most dominant NBA players who never won a championship
- 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
- Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
- Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
- Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
Kelly should make his return to action against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday, albeit in a fashion that will likely see him play few minutes.
As the season continues on, it will be interesting to see how committed the Lakers are to seeing what exactly Kelly can bring in the future, and how much he can contribute to a club that desperately seeks the right mix of offensive support for Kobe Bryant and enough defensive effort to keep Byron Scott’s head from exploding.
In theory, the Lakers can still compete for a playoff spot as they are a mere seven and a half games back from the last spot in the Western Conference.
In reality, there is such a talent divide between the Lakers and teams like Oklahoma City, New Orleans, and even Sacramento (all out of the playoffs currently) that it makes little sense to consider that possibility as anything more than a pipe dream.
Instead, minds should turn in the way of player development, and Ryan Kelly should be towards the forefront of that conversation.
Kelly had a few good games last season in a system that suited his skill set. Certainly Mike D’Antoni‘s philosophy helped Kelly, but it’s worth playing him to find out how he can perform with Byron Scott as the head coach.
Kelly’s offensive capabilities would be a welcome change from free-agent-to-be Carlos Boozer’s infatuation with the mid-range jumpshot, if only from the perspective of investing time in assets that project to stick around the organization for the rebuilding process.
Ryan Kelly could provide a different dimension for a Lakers roster that could use a few more shooters. With the offense featuring a Kobe Bryant who is attempting to become more post-driven, having a big like Kelly to stick open jump shots could do wonders for the spacing for this team as a whole.
The major barrier to finding out how Ryan Kelly can change this team? The defense. Byron Scott will need to be sure that Kelly can compete effectively on the defensive end before kicking his minutes up, as he’s used that argument for benching both Jeremy Lin and Carlos Boozer.
If Ryan Kelly can prove himself on the defensive end, he’ll get a chance to prove himself for the Los Angeles Lakers.