Breaking; LA Lakers finally sign center Walker Kessler for $85 million from Utah Jazz for three years contract….
The 2018-19 Los Angeles Lakers are off and running—on the court and through the various basketball news cycles.
Get used to the second part. When the best player on the planet joins its most recognizable franchise, the relationship is sure to produce a media monster.
When, where, how and why James walks will all be documented. Ditto for his new teammates, to a slightly lesser extent.
Luckily, we’ve sifted through the fluff and uncovered the biggest recent news items around this group.
LeBron Trying To Practice Patience
Gregory Bull/Associated Press
When James inked his deal with the Lakers this summer, it carried relevance for myriad reasons. Chief among them was the terms of an agreement: a four-year, $153 million contract with a player option for the fourth season.
Remember, he’d been persisting on short-term pacts after going back to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Committing three (or four) years to anyone would have been significant; doing so with a team trapped in a five-year playoff drought signaled a willingness to reshape his expectations.
Sort of.
ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst explained:
“According to sources close to James, one of the reasons he decided to commit long term was to set the tone—for himself as much as the organization—that he was going to embrace a process he knew the Lakers were going to have to undergo. Even at age 33, James also believed he had multiple years left in his prime and believed it was a calculated risk that the Lakers could construct a contending team. Whether or not he’ll be able to stick to that plan is to be seen.”
While James’ security should make it easier for the Lakers to chase other top-tier targets, the fact they’ll need to do so paints a picture of his supporting cast. There are some promising prospects on the roster, but their best days are ahead of them. None of the veterans around him figures to have a convincing case for the 2019 All-Star Game.
Even with LeBron on the roster, this remains a rebuilding project. While he seems to have the proper mindset now, no one knows how that might change should the Lakers find themselves several steps back of the elite tier.
Brandon Ingram Developing Chemistry with James
Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images
While the Lakers have a small army of up-and-comers, none has a higher ceiling than former No. 2 pick Brandon Ingram.
He’s a menacing mix of length, athleticism, skills and two-way upside. He’s still developing, but there have been patches where he puts it all together (16 games with 20-plus points last season) and hints at a towering ceiling.
Short term, he might be the most important player to build a rapport with James. So far, so good in Ingram’s mind.
“I think we (have good chemistry),” Ingram said, via the Lakers official Twitter account. “Of course as we keep playing we’ll find our spots on the basketball court where we like to take advantage of defenders, but from a standpoint of him being a really, really good passer that’ll automatically (help).”
James twice connected with a cutting Ingram for baskets in Sunday’s preseason opener, potentially giving the Lakers a new pipeline to offensive production. Ingram averaged 1.27 points per possession on cuts last season, but that only made up 5.7 percent of his offensive possessions.
“I find a rhythm with anybody who is very energetic offensively,” James told reporters Sunday. “That’s a guy that moves off the ball, and he was on the weakside and I was able to deliver a pass to him.”
While James didn’t delve too deep into their connection, he has heaped high praise on Ingram before.
“Look out,” James told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin recently. “I think he’s next.”
Now that the two are teammates, James might have as big a say as anyone in Ingram realizing his potential.
Luke Walton Wants More Speed
Carlos Osorio/Associated Press
Last season’s Lakers averaged 102.62 possessions per 48 minutes. Only two teams averaged more.
And yet, it sounds like head coach Luke Walton plans to press down harder on the accelerator.
“We’re gonna play fast, so we’re gonna get guys in and out,” Walton said, per ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. “We want to use our depth to our advantage and come in waves.”
Walton wasn’t kidding. During Sunday’s opener, the Lakers trotted out 16 different players and played at a blistering pace of 111.92. Granted, the rotation can’t run that deep in the regular season—Walton said he wants to have a 10-man rotation—but the emphasis on blink-and-you-might-miss-them speedy possessions should remain.
That said, it’ll be interesting to see how this goes with James. He’s 33 years old, entering his 16th NBA season and has already tallied more than 54,000 career minutes between the regular season and the playoffs. He also has never played for a team that finished among the top 10 in pace.
So, will James increase his speed, or will the Lakers save their turbo button-mashing for when he’s on the bench? That’s one of many questions yet to be answered about the King and his new club.
Statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.
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