Stop Looking at LaVar Ball: Here is the Real Issue with the Lakers
Stop Looking at LaVar Ball: Here is the Real Issue with the Lakers
Written by Joshua Toussaint (@josh2saint) on 15 January 2018
Written by Joshua Toussaint
(@josh2saint) on 15 January 2018
LaVar Ball has made comment after comment, but is that really what's affecting the team or is it the front office? Let's explore what the real issue is with the Los Angeles Lakers.
LaVar Ball has made comment after comment, but is that really what's affecting the team or is it the front office? Let's explore what the real issue is with the Los Angeles Lakers.
As much as I dislike LaVar Ball being covered as much as he is, it may seem counterintuitive to mention him in this article and put his name in the title. Call it clickbait, but people are interested in it. This false rhetoric has been stirred by pundits and has trickled down to fans. The only way to kill it is to discuss why he is not being a distraction and what the real problems are with the Lakers.
Win Streak
First off, on January 7th, LaVar Ball said in an interview with ESPN's Jeff Goodman he does not know if Luke Walton is the right coach for the team (which was completely blown out of proportion if you saw the interview), and the bombastic father was called a distraction by many fans and media members. Since, the Lakers have won 4 games in a row, their longest winning streak of the season, including a win over 3-seed Spurs. Yes, they were without Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green, but Leonard has only played 8 games this year and they have still been one of the best teams in the west. That is a quality win. What has Lonzo Ball done during that streak? He has only averaged 11.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 2.8 steals per game, incredible impact on both sides of the ball. His 3-point shooting has also improved a lot over the last month or so.
Since this tweet, Ball did shoot only 1/7 from 3 against Dallas, but still to be an above average 3-point shooter over his last 15 games shows significant improvement. In this win streak, Lonzo has been incredibly vital from pushing the pace, initiating the offense, moving the ball, getting teammates good shots, hitting his jumpers, playing lockdown defense on the ball and off it helping the helper, and rebounding to complete the defensive stops. After their win against Atlanta, which both snapped their losing streak and began their current winning streak, I said this about Ball, and I stick to it:
Has LaVar been a distraction? The evidence says no. Has he lit a fire under the Lakers, causing them to play better by creating adversity? I would also say no. The Lakers are playing much better as a unit and the coaching strategy has been better. They were following a 9-game losing streak, so they were bound to start winning a few to catch up to the mean. The losing probably helped them come together, and now they are finally healthy. LaVar's comments and antics have been irrelevant to the successes and failures of the team, so far.
What is the Real Distraction?
Any Laker not named Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, and possibly Josh Hart is either a free agent next offseason (Brook Lopez, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Corey Brewer, and Julius Randle) or has been mentioned in trade rumors (Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, Larry Nance, Jr., etc.). Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka have publicly made it known they will attempt to create two max contract slots this offseason. With the Lakers reportedly giving up on trading Deng, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Randle and Clarkson are not as locked in, because they might not wake up as Lakers tomorrow. Dumping their contracts would open more cap space for the Lakers' offseason plans. KCP and Brook Lopez are also playing for contracts, and their play has been less than stellar.
From October through the end of December, Brook Lopez averaged almost 4 3PAs per game. Over the last 6 games, since he came back from injury, he is attempting 6.2 3PAs per game. He is shooting 41.7% from 3 over that stretch, which will likely come down but it has been great. Since 3s on average for each player are far more efficient than post-ups, it makes sense why Lopez is taking many more 3s. It is helping the team which might lead to a larger payday this offseason.
KCP, on the other hand, has been a gunner this whole season. He has been below average in his efficiency with 40.6% from the field, 33.7% from 3, and a 52.3% true shooting percentage. He is also 4th on the team in shot attempts per game, even though he is just 8th in effective field goal percentage (when you take away Luol Deng). This does not take into account his terrible shot selection -- he tends to take lots of contested jumpers. Bad shots are basically turnovers because you are often handing the ball to the other team. A missed open shot at least tells the defense they made a mistake and they need to course-correct.
This leads to a bigger issue. At the end of December, I sent out this tweet on whom the Lakers should start:
If you notice, Caldwell-Pope and Lopez are not in that lineup. While I can stomach Lopez starting with Randle, since Kyle Kuzma has taken a huge step back this month, KCP should not be in the conversation. The Lakers need shooting and defense, and Josh Hart has been better at both. Since December 1st, KCP is shooting 31.5% from 3 while Hart is shooting 40.6% from that distance. Defensively, Hart gambles less and is much more solid. KCP's effort has been inconsistent while Hart has been the opposite.
Courting the King
Given KCP's frustrating play, it begs the question why he is getting so much leeway.
The Lakers are intent on chasing big-name free agents. The front office is doing their best to appease Rich Paul, the agent who represents LeBron James (and KCP). This makes sense why Caldwell-Pope has been given a free pass for his poor play by being 2nd on the team in games started (36) and minutes per game (33.9). While Lopez has been inconsistent, his minutes have dropped accordingly going from 23.4 minutes per game in October to 18.8 in January. The Lakers do have more depth in the frontcourt than the backcourt, but Josh Hart and Jordan Clarkson could be taking on bigger loads. However, this seems like this is a ploy to make Rich Paul and LeBron James happy by taking care of a fellow member of Klutch Sports, Rich Paul's agency.
This is not the only time the Lakers were involved in rumors with someone who was represented by Paul. Back in early December, Mike Fisher of DallasBasketball.com said, "...it's kind of an open secret now that the fellas (LeBron James and Nerlens Noel) are plotting ways to end up together, maybe next July 1st via free agency to the Los Angeles Lakers." A few weeks later on ESPN, Woj said he heard rumblings about a potential trade built around Nerlens Noel for Julius Randle.
Today, on Rich Eisen's show, Brian Windhorst discussed that he heard that NBA executives and agents think the Lakers might fire Luke Walton to hire David Fizdale, who was recently let go by the Grizzlies. Fizdale was a key assistant coach during LeBron's tenure in Miami and is also a Los Angeles native. During the season, Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka have not publicly said Luke is their guy going forward. Given that Walton was hired by Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak, he is not the new regime's guy, so they do not have an attachment towards Walton. To paraphrase Yahoo!'s Chris Mannix on the latest episode of his podcast when discussing the current Lakers' situation, coaches that were not hired by the current front office are walking on eggshells because the front office prefers to bring in their own people.
Given all these rumors and reports, it seems like a foregone conclusion that the Lakers will do whatever it takes to sign LeBron James. If they strike out in free agency, this could be a long road to recovery, especially if they overspend for mid-tier free agents. If all they do is sign Paul George, have Julius Randle accept the qualifying offer (which means he re-signs for one season and then becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2019), and get a few mid-level free agents on cheap deals, that is a win to me. Heck, if they re-sign Brook Lopez on a cheap deal, I would be ok with it. If they bring in LeBron, they will possibly overspend for several other players (Tristan Thompson, JR Smith, Iman Shumpert, etc.) much like Cleveland did. They could sign DeMarcus Cousins, but his high usage and poor defense/effort and attitude would not be ideal for this roster in need of culture and leadership.
Culture
To circle back to the team right now, with very few players guaranteed a roster spot next season and with many new faces on the team this year, the chemistry has been and will probably continue to be lacking to various degrees, especially if trades are made before the deadline. Lonzo Ball, KCP, Kyle Kuzma, Brook Lopez, and Josh Hart are all consistently in the rotation and have never played together before this season, while two of them, along with Randle, Clarkson, and Nance are unlikely to be on the team by July. Consistency builds chemistry and chemistry builds a culture. If the Lakers bring back KCP and Brook Lopez, they both would probably have to be under $10 million a year on short-term deals and not seen as permanent starters.
Furthermore, Julius Randle is only 23 and has shown significant development each season. The Lakers should try to keep him unless they can trade him for a star. At the very least, he could be an incredibly valuable Swiss army knife 6th man like Andre Iguodala. That is not to say he plays like Iggy, but given his ability to roll to the rim and finish, hit open shooters, handle in the open court, rebound, and roam and switch on defense, he is a very valuable player. I doubt he ends up becoming a player like Draymond Green, but he could be a mixture of Green and Paul Millsap to some degree. Randle's shooting form is looking better and it might end up being good enough for him to be a competent shooter. You don't just throw a guy like this away given his incremental improvement to chase a pipe dream.
If they play that starting lineup I mentioned of Ball, Hart, Ingram, Kuzma, and Randle, they are playing their key young pieces lots of minutes together. That builds consistent chemistry and a style of play, something the Lakers haven't had since the Kobe, Pau, and Bynum squad in 2012.
Since the start of Luke Walton's tenure, injuries and a mish-mash of different lineups have hurt their consistency. However, there was a glimpse towards the end of last season when the Lakers won 5 games in a row before losing the last game to the champion Warriors. Maybe it was a fluke, but they had a sense of camaraderie and flow that looked like a real team. With a completely restructured lineup this season, Walton and the rest of the unit were back to square one. If they gut some of these young players, then some of the last couple seasons were just wasted. Obviously, signing star free agents improves them, but what if they strike out? Is every season going to be about the offseason? These were the same fears Lakers' fans had during the Jim Buss/Mitch Kupchak era, and those fears came true each offseason.
My Take
My take is Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka need to learn from the mistakes of the previous regime. Buss and Kupchak were able to acquire lots of young assets. Now, it's the new order's turn to make something out of them. My fear is it seems like history is doomed to repeat itself due to Magic's hubris: he thinks stars will come because it is Los Angeles and the Lakers and he's Magic. Whether you are frustrated in the players or the coaches, remember everything starts from the top. Before they try to make waves in free agency, the Lakers' front office and ownership need to start making the dough before they put the toppings on the pizza.
As much as I dislike LaVar Ball being covered as much as he is, it may seem counterintuitive to mention him in this article and put his name in the title. Call it clickbait, but people are interested in it. This false rhetoric has been stirred by pundits and has trickled down to fans. The only way to kill it is to discuss why he is not being a distraction and what the real problems are with the Lakers.
Win Streak
First off, on January 7th, LaVar Ball said in an interview with ESPN's Jeff Goodman he does not know if Luke Walton is the right coach for the team (which was completely blown out of proportion if you saw the interview), and the bombastic father was called a distraction by many fans and media members. Since, the Lakers have won 4 games in a row, their longest winning streak of the season, including a win over 3-seed Spurs. Yes, they were without Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green, but Leonard has only played 8 games this year and they have still been one of the best teams in the west. That is a quality win. What has Lonzo Ball done during that streak? He has only averaged 11.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 2.8 steals per game, incredible impact on both sides of the ball. His 3-point shooting has also improved a lot over the last month or so.
Since this tweet, Ball did shoot only 1/7 from 3 against Dallas, but still to be an above average 3-point shooter over his last 15 games shows significant improvement. In this win streak, Lonzo has been incredibly vital from pushing the pace, initiating the offense, moving the ball, getting teammates good shots, hitting his jumpers, playing lockdown defense on the ball and off it helping the helper, and rebounding to complete the defensive stops. After their win against Atlanta, which both snapped their losing streak and began their current winning streak, I said this about Ball, and I stick to it:
Has LaVar been a distraction? The evidence says no. Has he lit a fire under the Lakers, causing them to play better by creating adversity? I would also say no. The Lakers are playing much better as a unit and the coaching strategy has been better. They were following a 9-game losing streak, so they were bound to start winning a few to catch up to the mean. The losing probably helped them come together, and now they are finally healthy. LaVar's comments and antics have been irrelevant to the successes and failures of the team, so far.
What is the Real Distraction?
Any Laker not named Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, and possibly Josh Hart is either a free agent next offseason (Brook Lopez, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Corey Brewer, and Julius Randle) or has been mentioned in trade rumors (Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle, Larry Nance, Jr., etc.). Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka have publicly made it known they will attempt to create two max contract slots this offseason. With the Lakers reportedly giving up on trading Deng, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Randle and Clarkson are not as locked in, because they might not wake up as Lakers tomorrow. Dumping their contracts would open more cap space for the Lakers' offseason plans. KCP and Brook Lopez are also playing for contracts, and their play has been less than stellar.
From October through the end of December, Brook Lopez averaged almost 4 3PAs per game. Over the last 6 games, since he came back from injury, he is attempting 6.2 3PAs per game. He is shooting 41.7% from 3 over that stretch, which will likely come down but it has been great. Since 3s on average for each player are far more efficient than post-ups, it makes sense why Lopez is taking many more 3s. It is helping the team which might lead to a larger payday this offseason.
KCP, on the other hand, has been a gunner this whole season. He has been below average in his efficiency with 40.6% from the field, 33.7% from 3, and a 52.3% true shooting percentage. He is also 4th on the team in shot attempts per game, even though he is just 8th in effective field goal percentage (when you take away Luol Deng). This does not take into account his terrible shot selection -- he tends to take lots of contested jumpers. Bad shots are basically turnovers because you are often handing the ball to the other team. A missed open shot at least tells the defense they made a mistake and they need to course-correct.
This leads to a bigger issue. At the end of December, I sent out this tweet on whom the Lakers should start:
If you notice, Caldwell-Pope and Lopez are not in that lineup. While I can stomach Lopez starting with Randle, since Kyle Kuzma has taken a huge step back this month, KCP should not be in the conversation. The Lakers need shooting and defense, and Josh Hart has been better at both. Since December 1st, KCP is shooting 31.5% from 3 while Hart is shooting 40.6% from that distance. Defensively, Hart gambles less and is much more solid. KCP's effort has been inconsistent while Hart has been the opposite.
Courting the King
Given KCP's frustrating play, it begs the question why he is getting so much leeway.
The Lakers are intent on chasing big-name free agents. The front office is doing their best to appease Rich Paul, the agent who represents LeBron James (and KCP). This makes sense why Caldwell-Pope has been given a free pass for his poor play by being 2nd on the team in games started (36) and minutes per game (33.9). While Lopez has been inconsistent, his minutes have dropped accordingly going from 23.4 minutes per game in October to 18.8 in January. The Lakers do have more depth in the frontcourt than the backcourt, but Josh Hart and Jordan Clarkson could be taking on bigger loads. However, this seems like this is a ploy to make Rich Paul and LeBron James happy by taking care of a fellow member of Klutch Sports, Rich Paul's agency.
This is not the only time the Lakers were involved in rumors with someone who was represented by Paul. Back in early December, Mike Fisher of DallasBasketball.com said, "...it's kind of an open secret now that the fellas (LeBron James and Nerlens Noel) are plotting ways to end up together, maybe next July 1st via free agency to the Los Angeles Lakers." A few weeks later on ESPN, Woj said he heard rumblings about a potential trade built around Nerlens Noel for Julius Randle.
Today, on Rich Eisen's show, Brian Windhorst discussed that he heard that NBA executives and agents think the Lakers might fire Luke Walton to hire David Fizdale, who was recently let go by the Grizzlies. Fizdale was a key assistant coach during LeBron's tenure in Miami and is also a Los Angeles native. During the season, Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka have not publicly said Luke is their guy going forward. Given that Walton was hired by Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak, he is not the new regime's guy, so they do not have an attachment towards Walton. To paraphrase Yahoo!'s Chris Mannix on the latest episode of his podcast when discussing the current Lakers' situation, coaches that were not hired by the current front office are walking on eggshells because the front office prefers to bring in their own people.
Given all these rumors and reports, it seems like a foregone conclusion that the Lakers will do whatever it takes to sign LeBron James. If they strike out in free agency, this could be a long road to recovery, especially if they overspend for mid-tier free agents. If all they do is sign Paul George, have Julius Randle accept the qualifying offer (which means he re-signs for one season and then becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2019), and get a few mid-level free agents on cheap deals, that is a win to me. Heck, if they re-sign Brook Lopez on a cheap deal, I would be ok with it. If they bring in LeBron, they will possibly overspend for several other players (Tristan Thompson, JR Smith, Iman Shumpert, etc.) much like Cleveland did. They could sign DeMarcus Cousins, but his high usage and poor defense/effort and attitude would not be ideal for this roster in need of culture and leadership.
Culture
To circle back to the team right now, with very few players guaranteed a roster spot next season and with many new faces on the team this year, the chemistry has been and will probably continue to be lacking to various degrees, especially if trades are made before the deadline. Lonzo Ball, KCP, Kyle Kuzma, Brook Lopez, and Josh Hart are all consistently in the rotation and have never played together before this season, while two of them, along with Randle, Clarkson, and Nance are unlikely to be on the team by July. Consistency builds chemistry and chemistry builds a culture. If the Lakers bring back KCP and Brook Lopez, they both would probably have to be under $10 million a year on short-term deals and not seen as permanent starters.
Furthermore, Julius Randle is only 23 and has shown significant development each season. The Lakers should try to keep him unless they can trade him for a star. At the very least, he could be an incredibly valuable Swiss army knife 6th man like Andre Iguodala. That is not to say he plays like Iggy, but given his ability to roll to the rim and finish, hit open shooters, handle in the open court, rebound, and roam and switch on defense, he is a very valuable player. I doubt he ends up becoming a player like Draymond Green, but he could be a mixture of Green and Paul Millsap to some degree. Randle's shooting form is looking better and it might end up being good enough for him to be a competent shooter. You don't just throw a guy like this away given his incremental improvement to chase a pipe dream.
If they play that starting lineup I mentioned of Ball, Hart, Ingram, Kuzma, and Randle, they are playing their key young pieces lots of minutes together. That builds consistent chemistry and a style of play, something the Lakers haven't had since the Kobe, Pau, and Bynum squad in 2012.
Since the start of Luke Walton's tenure, injuries and a mish-mash of different lineups have hurt their consistency. However, there was a glimpse towards the end of last season when the Lakers won 5 games in a row before losing the last game to the champion Warriors. Maybe it was a fluke, but they had a sense of camaraderie and flow that looked like a real team. With a completely restructured lineup this season, Walton and the rest of the unit were back to square one. If they gut some of these young players, then some of the last couple seasons were just wasted. Obviously, signing star free agents improves them, but what if they strike out? Is every season going to be about the offseason? These were the same fears Lakers' fans had during the Jim Buss/Mitch Kupchak era, and those fears came true each offseason.
My Take
My take is Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka need to learn from the mistakes of the previous regime. Buss and Kupchak were able to acquire lots of young assets. Now, it's the new order's turn to make something out of them. My fear is it seems like history is doomed to repeat itself due to Magic's hubris: he thinks stars will come because it is Los Angeles and the Lakers and he's Magic. Whether you are frustrated in the players or the coaches, remember everything starts from the top. Before they try to make waves in free agency, the Lakers' front office and ownership need to start making the dough before they put the toppings on the pizza.