Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - How Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves and LeBron James Have Built Synergy: A New Hierarchy in LA

Starting point is 00:00:00 Luca Donchich, Austin Reeves, and LeBron James have figured it out. We'll tell you why a new offensive hierarchy is changing the fortunes of the big three. That's next. You are Locked-on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks to everybody for tuning in or watching or listening to Locked on Lakers. I'm Brian Komeneski with Andy Kaminetsky.

Starting point is 00:00:33 The Lakers, I mean, nothing. Nothing, Andy, this season, has consumed more oxygen than the idea of how the big three are playing together. Luca Donchich, Austin Reeves, and LeBron James for a long time. It wasn't working. It wasn't particularly good. Last year, the first 100, what was it, 152 minutes scattered across like three months of batting ball. This year weren't very good. But lo and behold, Andy, the fortunes have turned and turned radically over the last, I don't know, 15.

Starting point is 00:01:05 games or 12, 15 games that they've been on the floor together. Suddenly a net negative has turned into a very clear net positive for the Lakers if it can continue. And it really starts with a fundamental shift in how the three of them operate together on the floor. Yeah, JJ talked about this before Monday's win over Houston in talking about specifically LeBron, quote, he's still going to be and still has been. a high usage player relative to your average player.

Starting point is 00:01:39 But the best thing for our team is him being the third highest used player. And obviously there's been stretches of the year where he's had to do more with injuries or guys being out of the lineup. And I think finding a rhythm and a groove and the rotations in the lineup when those three guys play, I think it's been a challenge for all of them, not just for LeBron, all season. And then he noted how they did not have the proper ramp up with all three of them at the beginning of the year because LeBron was dealing with the sciatica. Then once LeBron gets back, it's not too long before Austin Reeves is out for a couple months or so. And Luca had been in and

Starting point is 00:02:14 out of game. So in what has been a relatively short amount of time, I know you and I, one of the things that we had expressed as a concern coming out of the All-Star break was just simply assuming all three of those guys stay healthy and the rest of the roster stays healthy, which thus far, knock on wood, has been the case. Is there enough time? Like both of us had concerns that just it's not enough time to get everybody on the same page. They seem to be steadily evolving towards something that has been working better. And I think more important than anything else, it's cleaner and more clearly defined.

Starting point is 00:02:55 And after Monday, like, frankly just spelled out. I think it needed just spelling out A, B, C. A, Luca, B, Austin, C, LeBron. It's nothing personal. This is, it's not commentary on any of them or whatever. This is the way it needs to work. I think that the key here is what you're telling. Because we talked about this a little while ago, like in, you know, what you call this. And, you know, the issue sort of with like, you call it a hierarchy, a pecking order.

Starting point is 00:03:29 The old fashioned, you know, Kobe I eat first, pow eat second, and, you know, whatever's left, you guys can assume among yourselves. Like, you know, this, there's, there tends to be. LeBron got a plate at least. LeBron definitely got a plate. There, there tends to be sort of a value judgment. When you place that sort of usage order on, on players that reflects like a player A is better than player B when it comes down to a player B. player B is better than player C when it comes down to it. And that that's why A is going to get more shots than B.

Starting point is 00:04:07 B is going to get more shots than C. You know, that that's true, maybe not true. You can argue, I mean, nobody's arguing whether or not Luke is the best. But like you can argue about the relative merits of LeBron at this point in his career versus Austin at this point in his career. What I think is so important about this is that it's this isn't about who's better, you know, using air quotes for people who aren't watching on YouTube. It's about what makes the most sense for the three of those guys to be operating on the same

Starting point is 00:04:50 floor together. And what I think has. had been clear in what has become abundantly clear is that they needed to figure out a system that really maximizes the potential of all three. If you maximize LeBron's usage relative to Luca and Austin, it's much worse for Austin. Austin can't, you know, can't or isn't as effective doing this sort of stuff off ball that LeBron has shown himself like use Monday's game as an example, finishing, cutting, getting Allie U. and all that kind of stuff.

Starting point is 00:05:26 Austin is most effective when he's got the ball on his hands. He needs that to be the best version of himself. The Lakers, Andy, need Austin to be the best version of himself if they're going to have a chance to win. Maximizing Austin gives them a better chance to win

Starting point is 00:05:40 than trying to maximize LeBron in that way. To me. And so, like, you get the most out of Austin next to Luca, and you get a still very good version of LeBron that is a very big problem for or can be a big problem for other teams in a way for the Lakers that's kind of sustainable. So that's how I see it with what it looks like going forward.

Starting point is 00:06:11 Very interested to see how you look at the sort of usage hierarchy and the way that J.J. talked about it and what it looks like for the Lakers going forward. We'll do that next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by Robin Hood. sports were traded like markets. You can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robin Hood predictions markets. It's not you against the house. It's you participating in a live market. You can buy or sell your positions live all game long. Use your sports knowledge in the moments that matter. Robin Hood prediction markets changes the game. It's people moving the action. So when the momentum shifts,

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Starting point is 00:09:12 Okay. So I talked to the first segment about why I think this version of the Lakers just makes the most sense. It's preservational for LeBron allows him to picks his spots. And obviously, he has continued to be quite good working with that second unit with that higher usage, ball control kind of thing. But meanwhile, you know, eight missed shot, eight missed three pointers notwithstanding against Houston on Monday, Austin has benefited from the sort of clarity in terms of usage. And I think it puts significant pressure on, on, on, defense is because, you know,

Starting point is 00:09:49 LeBron James is a weapon on the move, a weapon that you run off screens, that you back cut, like you do all this stuff with is a different thing and a very different thing to deal with. And, you know, the secondary passing that that brings up when LeBron gets the ball in the move

Starting point is 00:10:05 because he's still LeBron. He's just harder to guard when you're not, you know, putting a guy face to face with him in that kind of way. I'm curious what you think about, you know, why it has been working. And then I know there are sort of some cultural points here that you want to make. Well, I mean, I think part of the reason it's working, you mentioned that it's a better,

Starting point is 00:10:26 more maximized version of Austin, but it's also a more maximized version of LeBron. He's not able to handle this type of usage anymore. Like when you were saying before about it not being better necessarily or whatever, to some degree it is about better. Like this is a better use of LeBron and doing it that way before was not the best use of him. Forget the way that it might have been taking away reps from Luca and Austin, like the most maximized version of them and the redundancies that were the Lakers were clearly stumbling with with three players essentially being asked to do the exact same thing. It's just not the best version of LeBron.

Starting point is 00:11:07 And the reason I bring this up is because I think it matters that J.J. to be spelling this stuff out very clearly and respectfully, but also not dancing around it. Because I think the longer that everybody looked to dance around this, because out of either respect for LeBron or not trying to make it seem like the three of them are pitted against each other, the more you don't just go directly at what needs to happen. This is a better use for Luca. This is a better use for Austin. and this is a better use for LeBron.

Starting point is 00:11:42 I remember when we had last week this talk about whether it's a hierarchy or not. It actually is a hierarchy. And I think it's important that that be spelled out because when you see LeBron seem outwardly and by all reports leaning into what JJ is asking of him, to do something different, to be off ball more,

Starting point is 00:12:03 to sacrifice some of the counting stats at a time when people still marvel at what you can do. And what you now do may seem to some people like a less impressive version of it. When you see LeBron buy into that, everybody else has no choice, but you buy into whatever the hell their asks are. Because that's LeBron freaking James. To be, to just be clear, like my point with better and hierarchies in this, that is avoiding the sort of value judgment debate over who's the better player.

Starting point is 00:12:37 It's not a, you know, that to me is the part that I, like, when you have the, those kinds of things, this is about what is best for maximizing the players that we have. And so, you know, and everything, I don't completely agree with you, but like, that's, that's what I mean by better. The buy-in part, though, like, we talked about all this, like, you know, we were joking in the, in the big show for Wednesday that, you know, the Lakers should petition the league for Luca to start next season with 12 or 13 technicals, because the inability to argue with officiating

Starting point is 00:13:13 has channeled all of that, like, angst and anger, whatever, into, like, kick-ass offense and defense because he has to run back, because he can't stay there and argue with the referees. Like, and you noted that since Luca has stopped, the Lakers are getting fewer T's as a group. Like, the whole team is it. There's buy-in sort of, I mean, that even is sort of a form of buying.

Starting point is 00:13:41 Like, I have to be bigger than my own sort of innate desire to complain about stuff as a star player. And you see Jared Vanderbilt buying into a role where he doesn't play a ton, but, you know, he's guiding Luca along and make sure his friend stays out of trouble because Lakers need him. And, you know, then obviously coming in and playing hard. And LeBron is buying it. And all of this is made easier, by the way, when you're winning. And the Lakers have won nine of ten, and they have a chance to do something very important Wednesday night.

Starting point is 00:14:17 They win that game. It's phenomenal. But if they play another really strong game against Houston, it sends another really strong message. If, you know, you noted in Wednesday's show the vibes in Houston, you know, you talk to Jackson Gatlin, the host of Lockdown Rockets, they're really bad. And they were bad here a month and a half ago. But they're good now.

Starting point is 00:14:42 And this stuff changes. It ebbs and flows, but it really breaks up when you get guys who don't accept what the team needs. I know there are a lot of people out there who want the LeBron era to end. And how the rest of the season plays out

Starting point is 00:15:02 may kind of flip that equation. We'll have plenty of time to talk about it. But I think you have to respect the idea that this guy recognizes when he said, we got the ball to our guy at the end of the Denver game, like to take that shot. Like that is not a meaningless statement when he refers to Luca that way.

Starting point is 00:15:27 When he allows, you know, this sort of, you know, resistance-free move into a new way because it helps the team win because the guy wants to play relevant basketball this year. You just, you have to respect that. I do respect it. I mean, look, I also- You're not you literally. Right.

Starting point is 00:15:47 No, but I'm saying I do respect it, like just as a statement of fact. I do. I also respect the way I think LeBron recognizes there's no upside in fighting it, not just because of any PR or image or any, or, you know, the way fans are going to perceive him, narratives, yada, yada, yada. I think he also recognizes there's no point in fighting it because what I would be fighting to do more of isn't even working for me the way I want it to. So at that point, it would be truly about ego,

Starting point is 00:16:23 like, I mean, and really about nothing else. Because it's not like LeBron in a super high usage role has been crushing it this, season, but he has to set aside touches and shots and whatever, control the offense because Golden Boy Austin Reeves is in a contract year. Like there are politics involved with Austin. Make no mistake about that. And as I've emphasized in many shows, there is a higher responsibility and onus on Austin to contribute at a high level. Like I expect more from Austin, whether you're talking about counting stats or just overall tangible effect. I expect more from Austin right now than from LeBron because, A, I think that's most

Starting point is 00:17:08 realistic, but B, these are the expectations and opportunities being put in front of Austin. And that the team clearly wants to build with him and Luca. So everyone needs to understand Austin should be graded at a higher standard. But I think LeBron is just, I think he's smart enough to recognize I can still impact games. I can still make a difference. He's typically having like one quarter that he owns, like that he's putting a big stamp on. But he's said, like, this stuff is not easy for him anymore. It's exhausting. There are times when he still can't quite believe that he's doing this. And, you know, even before this season, one of the things I used to comment all the time about where you'd

Starting point is 00:17:55 see the age with LeBron is that it didn't look easy for him anymore. He still could be successful, but he used to make this stuff look so effing easy. And it's not easy anymore. So I think in some respects, as long as he feels like he actually can contribute and that he's not, forget riding shotgun, like he's riding at the, you know, the back of the van or whatever, if he feels like he's still contributing in ways that matter, I think he recognizes this actually is a good balance and fighting it would be pointless. Well, yeah, I agree. And, you know, Obviously, it's also predicated on Luca doing what Luca has done and just being sort of a nuclear. And the other guys need to chip in, too.

Starting point is 00:18:39 For sure. But just in terms of the dynamic between the three of them, it has become, like, Luca's going to be Luca and Luca is going to play the role that Luca wants to play because he's Luca is clearly the best player on this team. He's one of the handful of best players in basketball. This is a discussion really about what do you do between Austin and, and LeBron to make it work. And they've found this rhythm.

Starting point is 00:19:04 They've found this thing. And now everything essentially changes. And, you know, the last note will quit. But like in the back pocket, both of the Lakers and LeBron, I think is this idea that especially if they can lower his usage in effective ways, in meaningful ways, in preservational ways, if they need to go to the well, where LeBron's got to turn back the clock for a game or a quarter or a half or two games or something in the playoffs. It's much more likely to be there.

Starting point is 00:19:39 And I think that's really important. Lockdown Lakers on YouTube is where you can hang out with over 37,000. Oh, so close to 38,000 subscribers. Of course, be back after the game Wednesday night to break it all down. We'll see you then.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - How Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves and LeBron James Have Built Synergy: A New Hierarchy in LA

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