Getty LeBron James of the Lakers
Generally, when a team gets to the 20-game mark of the NBA season, it has begun to form its identity. Roles take shape, groupings that work and don’t work become obvious, and coaches figure out which players they most trust. But when LeBron James looks at the current version of the Lakers, he said on Thursday, he comes to a pretty stunning conclusion.
He has no grip on what this Los Angeles bunch is and what it can accomplish.
“I have no idea what we are,” James said at his locker after the Lakers lost to the Thunder. “How? We don’t have a group yet.”
That is an uncomfortable thing for the team’s star player to say at the outset of December, especially coming off a trip to the Western Conference finals and a serious investment in the roster that was assembled and re-assembled at the trade deadline last February. The Lakers sank more than $400 million in new contracts to keep the players from last year’s team and make some additions around the edges.
That is a lot of money, of course, to not yet know what these Lakers are.
Lakers Health Situation Still in Flux
But the point LeBron James makes about Lakers roster instability—i.e., the injuries—is valid enough. Currently, they are going without Gabe Vincent, Rui Hachimura, Cam Reddish, Jaxson Hayes and Jarred Vanderbilt. The team has tried six different starting lineups this year, and has been without Vanderbilt, the projected starting power forward, all year because of a heel injury.
The Lakers have struggled with rebounding, especially going against teams with more size and length. That’s pretty much everyone at this point, given the injuries the Lakers have had. L.A. was outrebounded by the Thunder, 48-41.
“We’re missing pretty much all our length right now, with Cam and obviously Vando, Rui, Jax out, obviously. Gabe as well. These are five, these are rotational guys in our unit. It’s hard to make that up,” James said.
There have been some good showings individually, but the Lakers have not been able to firm themselves up as a team.
“I know what some of us individually are,” James said. “But as far as the team, we don’t have our group yet. We haven’t logged enough minutes with our group where we know, like, ‘OK, we know we got the starting group, we got the guys coming in, we got good rhythm, like …’ I’m happy, I mean, we’re over .500. We’re 11-9 with not ever having our same group. That’s pretty impressive.”
LeBron James Impressed by Defensive Effort
As for the overall impression of the team, there are things that LeBron James has liked so far. It is a competitive group, even when the personnel has not been there, and even despite a lackluster end to the current road trip, which featured a 44-point loss to the Sixers, a win over the hapless Pistons and the 23-point loss to OKC.
The shooting has not been there, nor the rebounding. But the defense has been solid enough and as long as that holds, the Lakers will be able to get to the level they think they can reach.
“No matter who has been in the lineup, we have been able to go out there and compete, no matter who’s coming in, who’s number has been called, guys who have been starters, going to the bench, guys who have gotten a lot of minutes or didn’t get a lot of minutes,” LeBron James said. “We have still tried to, win lose or draw, just go out and play our game.”