Getty Head coach Darvin Ham of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Retired two-time champion Lamar Odom urged Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham to roll out the team’s best five that he watched during last season’s playoff run.
A starting five of their three best players — LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves — flanked by the wing tandem of Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt “would be a problem,” Odom posted on X (formerly Twitter) after suggesting a lineup change during the December 22 episode of his podcast “The LADE Show” with Aron Cohen.
“I think a lot of people are still kind of nervous about Darvin Ham’s rotations a little bit,” Odom said.
Lakers’ Lineup Shakeup
The next day, December 23, Ham shook up the Lakers starting lineup. But he did not heed Odom’s unsolicited advice.
The Lakers rolled out with a new starting five swapping Jarred Vanderbilt for D’Angelo Russell, and sliding James into their starting point guard with Davis, Taurean Prince and Cam Reddish.
Ham touted the lineup switch as a big step in creating a defensive identity. But at the expense of shrinking the Lakers spacing in their half-court sets.
The issues were masked by James’ historic 40-point game on a perfect 5 of 5 3-point shooting. Their new starting five were plus-1 in 10 minutes together as their size caught the Thunder off guard.
But against the Boston Celtics on Christmas Day, with the best starting five in the NBA, the Lakers starters dug themselves an early 0-12 hole which set the tone for the Celtics rout.
Lakers’ new starting lineup in 18 minutes:
– 105.0 offensive rating (worse than 30th-ranked Spurs)
– 125.0 defensive rating (worse than 30th-ranked Wizards)
– -20.0 net rating (worse than 30th-ranked Spurs)
– 40.0 eFG%
– 46.8 TS%
Minuscule sample size but it’s been a disaster.
Early in the season, Ham yanked Reaves from the starting lineup because he and Russell were vulnerable at the point of attack.
With Russell no longer starting, Reaves sliding to the starting lineup next to James as their second-best playmaker, seemed to be the logical choice. But Ham had other things in mind.
Opponents are not respecting Reddish (30% 3-point shooter) and Vanderbilt (0 0f 9 3s this season), as the Celtics showed the blueprint on how to beat this new-look Lakers starting five: pack the paint.
Odom’s starting five will only leave Vanderbilt as the non-shooter in the lineup but his versatility on defense will likely make up for it.
Reaves (36.8%) and Hachimura (37.8%) will provide more spacing for James and Davis with their gravity. Hachimura and Vanderbilt’s length at the wing will cover up Reaves’ defensive deficiencies.
Darvin Ham Calls out Reddish-Vanderbilt Tandem
After they got exposed in their 125-115 Christmas Day loss to the Celtics, Ham called out Reddish and Vanderbilt, who only combined for just 11 points on 7 shots.
“I just think not allowing it to stagnate us,” Ham told reporters after the loss. “If they’re trying to play off, Cam’s got to step up shooting with confidence or eat up that space on the drive.”
“Collapse the defense once he touches the paint and try to find an open man. Same thing for Vando. The ball hits him, you just can’t hold it and be confused. You just gotta move on to the next thing.”
Ham is keen on sticking with his new starting lineup. But if the losses continue to pile up, will Ham consider Odom’s suggestion?