Los Angeles Lakers: Evaluating LAL’s new starting lineup

The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to unveil a new starting lineup at the start of next season. Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype predicted on August 3rd that the Lakers would start Russell Westbrook, Wayne Ellington, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Marc Gasol.

The predicated Lakers’ lineup creates an interesting question, who are the most important starters for the team’s success? The most essential starter for the team during this upcoming season is Davis because he was the focal point of the team’s offense last season.

Let’s evaluate the Los Angeles Lakers’ new starting lineup as they prepare for a new era with Russell Westbrook in Hollywood.

Los Angeles leaned on post-ups and pick and rolls to generate offense last season. They ran 9.3 post-ups per game during the 2020-21 season: 2nd in the NBA. Davis was at the forefront of the team’s post upsets as he averaged 4.8 per game: 51.6 percent of the team’s total post-ups.

Davis has also been a vital piece to the Lakers’ pick and roll sets. The Lakers ran the pick and roll 15 percent of the time as they averaged 16.6 per game. Davis was the roll man for most of those pick and rolls as he led the team in roll man possessions, averaging 3.2 per game.

When Anthony Davis wasn’t on the floor, LeBron James became the focal point of the team’s offense as he was 2nd behind Davis in post-ups, averaging 3.4 per game. James was able to pair his post-up work by being second on the team in pick and roll possessions as he averaged 5.5 per game. James would be responsible for over a third of the team’s pick-and-roll possessions.

The Lakers’ decision to make Davis and James the focal points of their offense led to the rest of the starters being off the ball. The remaining starters attempted almost 28 percent of the field goals from three as Dennis Schröder, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Marc Gasol averaged 3.5, 4.4, and 2.3 per game, respectively.

The role of the starters last season makes Wayne Ellington the third most important starter for the Lakers this upcoming season as he thrives off the ball. Ellington has made 38.2 percent of his threes since 2013 on 5.1 attempts per game.

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The majority of his threes came in one specific fashion: catch and shoots. Ellington has attempted 3.5 catch and shots per game since 2013: 68.6 percent of his total threes. He has been able to feast on his catch and shoot attempts by shooting 38.7 percent on these types of threes.

The fourth most important starter for the Lakers, based on their offensive system, is Marc Gasol. Gasol began shooting threes during the 2016-17 season at the request of former head coach David Fizdale. Fizdale wanted Gasol to start shooting threes to give Mike Conley more room to operate.

After Fizdale’s request, Marc Gasol has thrived as a floor spacer, making 37 percent of his threes on 3.5 attempts per game. Most of his shots have come from the catch and shoot variety, as they have accounted for 91.4 percent of his 3-point field goals. Gasol has ended up converting 37.6 percent of these field goals.

The Lakers’ offensive system indicates that Russell Westbrook will be the least essential starter as he won’t have the ball in his hands and struggles from behind the arc. Westbrook has only shot 30.7 percent from behind the arc throughout his career on 4.8 attempts. He has performed slightly better on catch and shoots, making 33.1 percent of his attempts on 1.6 shots per game.

The team would have to clear the paint to increase Westbrook’s chances of success. Westbrook’s success is dependent on how many shots he attempts in the restricted area. He has shot 61.5 percent in the restricted area over the last 4 seasons on 7.8 attempts per game.

Westbrook is averaging 9.6 points per game in the restricted area. Unfortunately, Rajon Rondo and Schroeder only averaged 3.2 shots per game in the restricted area over the past two seasons.

In conclusion, the Lakers’ offensive system over the past two seasons suggests that Anthony Davis is most important, while Russell Westbrook is least important to the team’s success.