How the Los Angeles Lakers should use the final 8 regular season games

In the final eight games of this condensed NBA season, The Los Angeles Lakers should look to address the lack of shooting in their rotation.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on June 4 that the NBA’s board of governors officially approved Adam Sliver’s return to play proposal, which includes eight regular-season games. One of the teams that can benefit from the return of the regular season is the Los Angeles Lakers, who need to make some alterations to there rotation to compete for a championship.

The team has spent this season acquiescing to every one of Anthony Davis’ desires because Lebron James wanted to eradicate the notion that other NBA players have a hard time playing with him. Before the season, other NBA players were hesitant to play with James because he would force other players to change their games to fit into his particular offensive system.

Kevin Durant told Bleacher Report in 2018 that players are hesitant to join James because he is such a dominant ballplayer, which forces his teammates to become floor spacers regardless of skillset. Consequently, James told Davis that he would be the focal point of the Lakers’ organization before being acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans.

Upon arriving in Los Angeles, Davis publicly acknowledged that he didn’t want to play center because of the physicality associated with the position. Davis’ statement led the Lakers to sign JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard to share minutes at the center position. Davis shares the court with them for 21.9 minutes per game, more than 60 percent of his playing time.

More importantly, Lakers’ head coach Frank Vogel decides to run a post up centric offense because Davis had a track record of thriving in the low post. Davis shot 42.7 percent from the field on 3.5 attempts per game over his last four seasons in New Orleans.

The field goal percentage helped him generate 3.9 points in 6.7 possessions per game. The low post-production accounted for 14.6 percent of his scoring output. Davis’s low post-track record has been the catalyst behind Lakers being second in post-up possessions averaging 14.5 per game. 62.1 percent of those possessions belong to him as he is averaging 9.0 per game.

Davis hasn’t disappointed the team as he is converting 45.6 percent of his field goal in the low post on 3.7 attempts per game. Davis’ field goal percentage has helped him create 4.7 points, 17.6 percent of his scoring output, for a total of 26.7 points on average.

Although catering to Davis’s preferences has played a vital role in the current being atop the Western Conference, it can cost them a championship this year. Davis’ desires have led the team to start two subpar shooting big men in Davis and McGee

The presence of the two non-shooting big men will shirk floor spacing for the rest of the team. This is because two defenders can constantly be near the basket. Two defenders near the basket give an opponent multiple ways to slow down the Lakers’ offense.

Opponents can use both defenders to double team whoever is posting up on the low block. They can also use one of the defenders as the second line of defense in case a perimeter player can get pass his primary defender.

The decreased floor spacing will increase the likelihood that James is going to take more 3-pointers as they would less room to attack the basket successfully. James is already taking a career-high 32.4 percent of his field-goal attempts from behind the arc. Taking more three’s would play right into the hands of the opponents as James is a subpar shooter converting 34.4 percent of his behind the arc shots on 5.8 attempts per game throughout his career.

Los Angeles’ shooting struggles would continue when the starters go to the bench as the second unit has four subpar shooters. Kyle Kuzma, Markieff Morris, ‘Rajon Rondo, and Howard have a career 3-point shooting percentage below 34.5 percent. It would allow the opponent to put 80 percent of their lineup near the basket to encourage them to shoot threes.

Consequently, opponents can put a third defender near the basket to encourage James to take more threes. Therefore, the team should use the remaining eight regular-season games to experiment with their rotation. For example, the organization can talk to Davis to see he is willing to become the starting center.

If he accepts the challenge, Vogel has more flexibility to add an extra shooter. The additional shooter puts more stress on the opposing team as they would no longer able to stand near the basket and successfully defender the Lakers.

If the opponent decides to put three defenders near the basket, the ball handler can pass to the shooter who replaced McGee for the wide-open three. On the other hand, if the opposing team tells their defender to stay close to the shooter, it gives perimeter players more space to successfully attack the basket.

LA currently has five players on the roster with a career 3-point percentage of above 36 percent in Alex Caruso, Avery Bradley, Danny Green, Jared Dudley and Quinn Cook. Furthermore, the team has been successful with three shooter lineups this season as a unit featuring Avery Bradley, Caruso, Davis, James, and Green has averaged 3.4 minutes of action in 12 games.

The lineup has shot 41.7 percent from behind the arc on two attempts. Their small sample size of success from behind the arc contributed them shoot 52.2 percent from the field on 5.8 shot attempts. Shooting 52.2 percent helped them generate 8.3 points per game. The 8.3 points helped them outscore opponents by 1.6 points per game.

In conclusion, the Lakers’ approach to the final eight regular-season games can affect their title aspirations.