The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hoops Tonight - Is Darvin Ham's time with Lakers ending? LeBron James & Anthony Davis "frustrated"

Episode Date: January 5, 2024

Jason Timpf is joined by Lakers beat writer Jovan Buha of The Athletic to discuss the recent losing streak by LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the Los Angeles Lakers as they have lost 8 of their last 10, and last 3 overall. There are rumors swirling around that head coach Darvin Ham could be on the hot seat as it is being reported that some of the players are unhappy with the direction of the team under Ham. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Happy Thursday, everybody. Hope all of you guys are having an incredible week. Well, I woke up this morning to a bit of a bombshell. Mr. Yovam Buhat from The Athletic, with Tom Sharani's help reported that Darvin Ham is apparently facing some internal issues within the Lakers locker room and that there are some frustrations. And I can think of nobody better than Mr. Yovon to come on the show to break it all down. Yovan, it's good to see you. I know you've had a long night. I know there's been a lot that's going on, but I appreciate you taking the time to come hang out and break it

down for us today. I want to just start really simple. Is there any, can you just elaborate for us about the specific frustrations that are going on within the Lakers locker room, specifically with Darvanham and the job he's been doing coaching the team? Yeah, well, I'll go back to the last night because the post-game scene last night was bizarre. It was unlike anything I've seen this season where the Lakers lose and they lose to an undermanned heat team who are not only missing Jimmy Butler, but they're missing Caleb Martin and Hayward Highsmith. And so like they're missing two starters and a rotation player. And of course, their best player in Jimmy Butler and you see kind of with the game in the balance, the heat, execute well, make all the

right plays, and the Lakers don't. They kind of crumble in the fourth quarter after cutting down the lead. And it was just to me kind of this interesting discrepancy in how the heat handle not having their best player and several rotation players versus the Lakers who are without D'Angelo, Russell, Rui Hachamora and of course gave Vincent, who remains out indefinitely. But then postgame, no Darwin Ham for a while. And he goes pretty quickly, usually within about 10 minutes. So it's been 10 minutes, it's been 20 minutes, still no Darwin ham.

Eventually, the locker room opens up, which basically never happens before Darwin speaks. It's usually the locker room opens up after the head coach speaks. That's kind of the thing that triggers the locker room opening up. So locker room opens up. We go in. We start talking to AD. And then about almost at the end of 80's availability, we get told Darwin's about to go. So head over to Darwin, Darwin speak with him.

But while we're talking to AD, LeBron and AD have blockers right next to each other. And LeBron gets dressed and just walks out. And to my knowledge, it was only the second time this season. He did not speak with the media. And occasionally, we request LeBron and AD every game. they basically speak every game and once in a while they'll get a night off where it's like you know maybe it's a you know the the charlotte game or something where it just doesn't really make sense that we need to talk to them but for most nights they'll talk with us lebron's been

great with the media throughout his whole career uh so to me that was a message of where lebron is at right now uh in terms of how he's feeling about the direction of the lakers and uh you know where things are so lebron leaves ad is completely dejected uh he's he's soft-spy He seems very down. And then we go and speak with Darwin and it's kind of business per usual. And he's sort of, you know, he likes to portray an optimistic perspective publicly. So he was hitting on a lot of the same messaging that he's been hitting on throughout this losing streak of, you know, we're going to chip away at this rock.

We're going to figure it out. We're going to look at the film or we're going to get back to it and, you know, come up with the solution and like kind of the same stuff he's been saying throughout this whole, you know, process. And then Austin Reeves goes and he says similar things to Anthony Davis of basically like, we have enough talent here, even with our injuries to not be losing some of these games that we're losing. And that was one of the things we contrast, you know,

highlight in the story was the contrast between AD and Austin Reeves saying injuries aren't an excuse. The ever evolving lineups and rotations are. or not an excuse. Like we should be winning a lot of these games that we're losing, whereas Darwin Ham was saying, you know, we can't get, we're not going to,

you know, find a rhythm until we're healthy. And, you know, he mentioned considering the previous starting lineup of Jared Vanderbilt, DeAngel Russell and Austin Reeves, and going back to that and saying he's going to,

you know, leave no stone and turned. And it was just like this weird contrast of the head coach kind of almost acting like things were fine kind of in a way and just saying, you know, we just got to get healthy and it's the lineups and this and that. And then I think the one that definitely rub some people the wrong way was basically implying that, you know, Gabe Vincent and DeAngel Russell Russell and Rue Hachamora being out was as impactful, if not more, than Jimmy Butler being out for the heat because he said it's easier to replace a big dog than it is to

replace multiple pieces in the rotation. And I think that's the thing that's kind of gotten lost in all the Lakers injury talk is LeBron, AD Austin Reeves and the Angelou Russell have basically been healthy all season. They've combined to miss a total of eight games. That's two games per player. So if we were discussing this before the season and someone came and told us, hey, those guys are going to miss eight games at the 35 game mark, we would think this team has at least 20 wins right now.

So, you know, to me for them to be under 500 at this point is a, it's a significant underachievement, even with the injuries, the IST, the schedule, whatever excuse you want to throw in there, they are underachieving right now. And I think there was clearly a dissonance in how it was viewed by the head coach and how it was viewed internally and by the players post game last night.

So when it comes to the actual reporting that you guys did, did you guys hear any specific basketball frustrations, any sort of like tactical stuff where it was like the guys in the locker room are like, we're doing this the wrong way and we should be doing something differently. Like, was there any like above and beyond the messaging from Darwin, which I agree with you. Like the messaging is part of my language. It's bullshit.

Like there's no excuse. Like you can, not only was Miami dealing with a tougher set of circumstances last night. And not only is that idea that a superstar is easier to replace than a few role players completely ridiculous, but it just screamed at you off the screen. What you said at the beginning of your rant is something I very much agree with. Like you looked, it looks. looks like a Miami Heat team that is completely and utterly bought into a brand of basketball on both ends of the floor. And they are, and they are like just competing like crazy and they're

willing to run through a wall for their coach. And then there's a lethargic Lakers team on the other end. And so I'm just wondering if you guys heard any like specific frustrations within the locker room with the basketball approach of the team. So the biggest thing has been the lineups and the rotations and how often they're fluctuating. And guys just feel like, They don't have a rhythm. And that's partly on them. And Darwin Ham actually addressed that. He refrains from calling people out.

He likes to keep that stuff internal. But even last night, he called out some of the new additions and said, like, those guys have to play better. Those guys have to do the things that we brought them in here to do. So that was sort of out of character in terms of how he normally handles that stuff with criticizing players. He likes to keep all that stuff internal. So for him to do that publicly, I thought was kind of telling of where this is headed.

But the biggest thing has been the lineups and the rotations. And they've had 10 starting lineups this year. They've had three in the last three games. And it's clear up to this point, they don't know who their best five players are. And I think we have an idea of who their best five players are. But internally, you can talk to five different people and get five different answers. You might get different rankings or different guys thrown in there. but it seems like there's a general frustration with let's just stick to a certain starting lineup,

a certain rotation. And sure, if a guy gets injured, we can plug someone else in and we can rearrange it. But it feels like with them right now, if a guy gets pulled out of the rotation, it's wholesale changes of, okay, well, now it's a brand new starting lineup. It's going to be a brand new eight or nine man rotation. And night to night, there's really no consistency. with, I mean, they have their general identity of what they're trying to do. They're, they want to play with size.

They want to play with force. Their, their defensive-minded group. But in terms of the actual rotation, like, I thought Max Christie was playing pretty well. And then he just kind of gets benched for two weeks. And Christian Wood, I think, has outplayed Jackson Hayes overall this season. And then he also gets bench for a couple weeks. And it's just, it just kind of been that, that, you know, push and pull with who's in,

who's out. And again, a lot of that has been injury related. but I think the one thing that we reported and I actually talked about it on here when we spoke about a week and a half ago was like the the OKC starting lineup was a head scratcher internally with multiple parties. It wasn't just players, but multiple levels of the organization inside and out were pretty shocked by that decision to start that lineup and to have your third, fourth, and fifth highest paid players in DeLo, Rui, and Austin Reeves all come. me off the bench. And one thing that's gone out of the window with all of this has been continuity. The Lakers championed their continuity all offseason. That was the theme.

That was the buzzword. And those three guys who were their third, fourth, and fifth highest scorers in the playoffs have all had their roles toyed with and reduced to some extent until recently with Austin now back in the starting lineup. But like it just, it's been grasping at straws, throwing different stuff against the wall. Nothing has really worked. And I think there's just a general frustration of. of like, you know, does Darwin know how to manage this group right now?

And clearly that hasn't been the case for several weeks now. Yeah, I've seen this coming for a little while. I was wondering if it would ever reach a, you know, because firing your coach in the middle of the season is always a challenge. If you don't have a specific plan in mind. And obviously one of my biggest pet peeves is when people just scream like, fire the coach, fire the coach, but then they don't explain why they feel that sort of way.

So bear with me for a second. And I want to explain a specific basketball case for why I think Darvinham needs to go. And to be clear, before I go any further, I don't think firing Darwin Ham would fix all of the Lakers' problems. You don't go 17 and 18 with LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Austin Reeves, healthy with LeBron James and Anthony Davis playing better than they did last year at an all-MBA level, unless tons of things are going wrong.

And so any one thing isn't going to turn things around. Darwin Ham didn't lose to the Miami Heat last night. The Lakers lost to the Miami Heat. The Lakers were the ones kicking the ball all over the damn court, not spurning back in transition, completely incapable of making an open catch and shoot shot, the losing shooters off ball. The players are the ones who lost to the Miami Heat last night.

So to be clear, firing Darwin is not going to fix all of those issues. That said, I do think there is a very clear basketball case that a coaching change needs to be made. And it's kind of different than some of the other LeBron seasons we've seen. Like we remember the David Blatt year, and I don't think David Blatt tactically was a mismanaging the Cavaliers. It was a voice in the locker room. He came in really arrogant. The veterans kind of pushed away from him.

There was a rift there that didn't listen to him anymore. They needed to make a move. Same sort of thing with Frank Vogel. Like I actually think Frank Vogel is a much better coach than Darwin Ham. And I think he specifically on the defensive end schematically is one of the most advanced coaches in the league. And I think he brings a lot of value to the table. but it became clear that there was a separation in terms of the leaders of the team and just listening to Frank Vogel. And so a change needed to be made.

The Darwin Ham case, I think, extends much further into the basketball realm. And so there are four reasons, in my opinion, why Darwin Ham has to go. First, they've been one of the worst energy and effort teams in the league this year. So I think the clear example of that is the difference between how good they've been in crunch time versus how good they've been at the start of games. This has been one of the 10 best clutch teams in basketball this year, and they've been really good on both ends of the floor. They've actually been a very good half court offense and defense throughout the year. As recently as like a couple of days ago, they were top 10 in both half court offense and half court defense. They lose games on the margins. But if you look at

the first quarter, they're 29th in first quarter defensive rating. They average trailing by four points at the end of every first quarter, which is a second only to the Portland Trailblazers. So they come out every night and play bad basketball, which tells me they're not bought in to the basketball identity of this team. They're not bought into a brand of basketball that they want to play. They don't believe in what they're doing on both ends of the floor. Reason number two, you use the word grasping at straws, and I entirely agree. He doesn't seem to have any idea what scheme he wants to implement with this group. I thought there was an interesting play in the first quarter last night that demonstrated this. It's a dribble handoff with Bam and Tyler.

Harae where Cam was guarding Tyler Harrow and Anthony Davis was guarding Bam. And Anthony Davis thought it was a hedge and recover. So he's coming out to kind of show on Tyler and he's looking to recover to Bam. But Cam peels off and switches onto Bam and runs to guard him in the post. And AD looks at him like, what are you doing? And he's pointing at Tyler Harrow. And then Cam goes and rotates. They make the pass to Bam and he makes a wide open jump shot.

One of the issues there is Garvin keeps switching up the defensive scheme throughout the season. They won the in-season tournament blitzing and rotating. an aggressive athletic approach to defense. And then Darwin just was like, never mind, we're going to try switching for a while. And so they just decided to do something different. And when you constantly are switching up your schematic approach, you end up being bad at everything. Because every schematic approach requires repetition and practice

to get the rotations down, to get the communication down, to get the habits down to where you start playing good defense, right? And then on the offensive end, we saw this team make it to the Western Conference finals last year, with a four-out-one-in, spread pick-and-roll, and heavy post-up attack. And the five-out attack that D'Arvinham implemented this year really didn't make sense for the personnel. If you want to run a five-out attack, you either need to be an outstanding shooting team like the Warriors,

which the Lakers are not, or a real downhill athleticism team like the Kings, which the Lakers are not. Since then, he's tried to implement other things, but once again, it's become a situation where the lack of commitment to an offensive identity has made them bad at everything. The third reason I think he needs to go,

over tinkering with the rotation, which you mentioned. This massively disrupts rhythm and confidence and just the overall comfortability of these role players. And I think that's a specific reason why the role players beyond LeBron and Anthony Davis have all had down offensive seasons.

I think it stems from the constant tinkering with the rotation. And the craziest thing about it is this is not a difficult rotation to figure out, in my opinion. There is a clear starting lineup. It's Austin, Tori, and LeBron A.D., any one of the point attack guys, it can be Cam or it can be Vando or it can be Max.

And as far as the bench groups, it's very clear that DeAngelo Russell and Anthony Davis pair really well, right? They're positive on the season. And it's really clear that that Austin Reeves, LeBron James, Christian Wood, trio pairs really well. And so this is not a difficult rotation to figure out, but because it's been constantly tinkering with them, here's five athletes and none of them can shoot. there's five shooters and none of them can run and jump.

And it turns into the situation where the redundancies just lead to these, these diminishing returns as the lineups have struggled. And so this has not been a situation where it's been a complicated rotation to figure out. But Darvin Ham is galaxy-brained the whole thing and everyone has suffered as a result. And the last but not least, you guys said in the locker, or in the report, I should say, that there were six different reports or six different sources. I think it was either five or six, I can't remember. But there was, yes, there's a half dozen sources that are saying in the locker room that they're frustrated.

That to me is a clear sign of almost like a schism in the locker room. And at that point, like, there's no version of that where like everyone's just like, never mind, let's buy back in and go do this thing again. And so to me, when you couple all of those together, you have the same Vogel David Blatt case of like the guys just aren't listening to him anymore. But then you have this clear basketball case for why Darvinham just quite frankly is not the guy. to maximize this group in terms of basketball on both ends of the floor. So now that I'm off my soapbox, I want to ask you specifically. The Laker front office has been quiet.

And there hasn't really been much on this front. I actually poked around about a week ago and just asked some people that I know, like, is it even something that's on the table? And I was hearing no at that point. And so my question for you is, do you actually think there's a chance starving gets fired or fired? Have you actually heard anything from the front office that would lead you to believe that decision is on the table?

Yes, I think it is on the table. And I think it's not going to happen today. Probably not going to happen tomorrow. But if this skid continues with this homestand that they have coming up, 23 of the first 25 days of January are in L.A. That includes a road game against the Clippers. But if they somehow come out of that skid under 500, and potentially even sooner,

I mean, if they play Memphis on Friday, they lose that game, then they play the Clippers on Sunday. They lose that game. Now you're three games under 500. I think that's in play at that point. So I think, you know, to what you just said, I have been monitoring this during the skid and checking in with people. And it had been, nope, I mean, the guy made the Western Conference finals last year. They won the in-season tournament a few weeks ago. Like, he's fine.

but the seat warming has started. And if we were comparing this to a car, I think it's on level one out of level three. But that could easily go up to level two or three with another loss or two just because of like you have it. You're in a win now situation with LeBron and AD. Like this isn't, oh, let's see how this year goes. And then we always have next year.

Like it's championship robust for this group this season. And I think they're going to approach the. trade deadline with that mentality, but they also have to approach the on-court product and the coaching and the rotations with that mindset as well. And if Darwin isn't getting through to the guys, you know, whether that's on him or on them or some combination of both, at some point, that becomes a real issue. And, you know, again, the Lakers, like, they, well, Broughton ADE missed the combined five games. That has not happened over the last few years. And for them to be this healthy and under 500, it's just, it's insane. And I still can't really believe it. Again,

even with the schedule, even with the injuries, like they've had their top four players basically every night. And in most cases, that should be enough to at least be above 500. So, you know, I think that the seat has started to warm. I wouldn't say it's hot yet. I would say it's warming. but we'll see how the next couple games go. And you'll have the Lakers come out. Because again, I think you hit on something. Like last night,

to me, was a really bad body language game for them. And they eventually turned it on in the second half. And they've shown in spurts, they can be, they can just kind of flip a switch where all of a sudden they get into the, you know, back into these games despite trailing by 10, 15 points, whatever.

But to me, some of the body language was just really bad. And, you know, by the time we got in the locker, locker room. The locker room had cleared out aside from the guys who still had to talk to the media. So it was just the vibes last night were as bad as they've been all season. Understandably so, again, losing to a Miami team that they felt like they should have beat,

considering who was out in Miami being on, I think they're on like a six game road trip right now. So again, like, you know, I think it's in play, you know, potentially sooner than later with Darwin. but I think it's going to have to take this skid extending a little bit more before that happens. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media.

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podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at a podcast. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here. unpack what went down and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 was big to me, not just because of crack.

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Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I think the one thing that could top this is that could stop the skid is Darwin just picking and sticking with something. I agree. I agree. Like, like, you, you pointed out last night, that was the starting lineup that you specifically had called for for a while. And it's more or less the structure that I was calling for too. Like, it really doesn't matter to me. who's at the two, like all three of those guys are flawed. Sorry, like all three of them have certain, like Max Christie, as much as he's more of a two-way version, like, he's got so much of that young guy decision-making thing going on where he just, we'll just make a catastrophic, like, pick six turnover or something like that that just kind of kills the momentum of the game. So, like, all of them kind of come with flaws, but he did pick a starting lineup that I agree with.

And again, as far as the bench rotation, it is challenging when DeAngelo Russell and Rui Hacham are out, because in the current configuration of the team, they are important bench players, but I think if he sticks to a simple rotation, kind of like we talked about, like those Austin-Lebron, Christian Wood Groups really work. I think it's important because Austin in a two-man game with LeBron is just so much more impactful offensively than when he's running it with some of the lesser Lakers players.

The Angela Russell is the one ball handler, non-Lebron. That seems to have really good chemistry with Anthony Davis to get him the ball where he needs to get it. So I think there's a way they can configure that. A big thing, too, is like they need to pick a defensive identity and stick with it. Like, to me, I don't like the switching simply from the standpoint of I want Anthony Davis at the rim.

I want Anthony Davis at the rim as much as possible. End of a game, like, oh, it's the Western Conference semis and Steph's calling for the ball in game four and he's running pick and roll. Yes, switch AD try to get a couple of late game stops. But for the most part, I would look to run that. You can vary between, you know, a high drop, a low drop, a blitzing scheme based on the opponent. but I would have chasing over the top of screens

and Anthony Davis staying on the center as much as possible. Lean into that and see what happens. I'm just not sure if he's going to. For him to say once again last night after he finally lands the plane on the lineup that you and I have been calling for, that he might leave no stone unturned. It's like, that's the problem, dude.

That problem, dude, is like no matter what lineup you pick, you might have a bad night in there, right? Just like those starters, the ridiculous starting lineup, kind of manhandle the Oklahoma City Thunder on that one particular night, right? Like, it's not about the one night. You've got to stick with something for a while and actually give these guys a chance to figure it out and get better. I wanted to talk about personnel for a little bit because I personally am starting to

kind of change my feeling about the team a little bit. So to give you specifically where my brain has been going, I am really worried about the Lakers offense. And I don't think it's as much about schematic. Texas people think. I do think that's part of it. But I think the reality is, is like, when LeBron James and Anthony Davis really want to play bully ball, they can be a really good offense. But they don't want to do that a ton for completely normal reasons, right? Like LeBron James and January of a regular season is not going to be looking to post up 15 times a game, right? But I do think in the

grand scheme of things, they really do need, in my opinion, another high level offensive player. And so I've been more willing to kind of explore the idea of an offensive firepower type of trade than I was a couple of weeks ago, simply because when you really look back, they were bottom 15 offense in October, they were bottom 10 offense in November, they were a bottom 10 offense in December. Last night, they looked utterly inept on the offensive end of the floor. It's clear to me that they might have to consider, you know, especially when they have the ability at that three spot to potentially throw a perimeter defender, they might have to look into more of an offensive oriented trade.

So I was just wondering where your head is at from a personnel standpoint with the types of targets the Lakers should be targeting at the deadline. Well, and I think this hits on another thing where going back to that OKC lineup, you know, this is where there was a bit of a disconnect internally where Darwin kept referencing the defense and their defense hasn't been as great as it was. in the in-season tournament, although again, part of that is the new switching scheme and the adjustment with that. But really, it's been the offense all season.

Like, they've consistently been a bottom 10 offense and you're not going to win a championship with a bottom 10 offense. That's just not going to happen in 2024. So I think even kind of the diagnosis of, you know, clearly something was wrong and something needed to be adjusted and fixed. And I think people were understanding of, hey, you know, maybe try out a new lineup because this current group clearly isn't working, but it was the diagnosis of, well, it's our defense. And we got to start this new lineup and we have to overhaul our scheme and, you know,

kind of go more defensive-minded when it's like, sure. And look, that group played really good defense for stretches. Like you saw the thinking behind it from a defensive perspective. But offensively, they were atrocious. And it really was like LeBron and Ady had to be superheroes. offensively and basically find ways to score without spacing, which they're capable of doing because they are so special. But that's not a sustainable model for the rest of this regular season and into the playoffs.

You weren't going to win with that lineup. So I think clearly they need some more offensive firepower. I think I've warmed to the idea of a potential Zach Levine trade because of that, depending on what they would have to give up. I still think Zach Levine, Austin Reeves back court is pretty tricky defensively to make that work. And you really have to have a special defender, I think, in that third front court spot next to LeBron and AD to help mitigate some of the limitations there. But be it, Zach Levine, DeJante Murray, like those are the two consistent names that I continue to hear. Obviously, they both have clutch connections.

I think either one of those guys would help boost the offense. And then with Dejante, it's much less money. He's making less than half of what Zach is making. And he's obviously a much better defender and can help shore up some of the point of attack stuff from the guard position that they haven't had with Gabe Vincent out. So I think those two, like either one of those I've warmed up to and, you know, think that I'd be okay with if I'm the Lakers. It's just really a matter of cost.

everyone wants Austin Reeves. Like, you know, there was a point where maybe he wasn't as hot of a name just because he was struggling earlier in the season. But he's right back to where he was at the end of last season in terms of like that contract, him making basically $12 million a year for the next three years. That is a steal with the production you're getting. He's already shown he will be mature enough to embrace a bench role. So depending on your team configuration, you could start him.

You could bring him off the bench. So he's the guy that everybody wants, that they also want Max Christie. And those are a couple of haggle points for the Lakers right now of like viewing those two guys as part of their core moving forward and potentially having to give up one or both depending on the trade. So right now I think those are going to be the two haggle points for them in terms of just not wanting to give those two guys up, particularly Austin. I think that they're going to try and hold on to him and do the best that they can to, you know, keep him in any trade. but Zach Levine like he's not perfect that there are major defensive concerns shot selection concerns although I do think he'd be properly slotted as a third option on this team there's some health concerns with him the contract like I get all the reasons not to trade

for him but in a win now context of like can Zach Levine help spark the Lakers this season and for this season like I'm starting to understand the logic a little bit more Yeah, I'm in on that needing to be one of the archetypes they go after in terms of a high-level offensive player. I would be really reticent to give Austin up because just in a vacuum when it comes to like playoff offensive production, there's not that big of a gap between Austin and some of those guys. One of the things with Austin that I think, you know, I was actually looking into it this morning. Austin's been over a point per possession in both catch and shoot and pull up jump shots this year. He's been a very, very good pull-up jump shooter.

But he's taking almost twice as many pull-up jump shots as he is catch-and-shoot jump shots. He's spending a ton of his time on the ball. And for the record, I like Austin on the ball. He's been right about a point per possession and pick and roll and ISO this year, including passes. I just would like to see the volume there cut down a little bit more and like to see him a little bit more in some of that. second side action, some of that playing off of attention gathered by others. Dejante Murray, I think, is still my favorite target in terms of a guy that brings some of that point of attack defense, the ability to break the defense down off the dribble, which keeps

the defense in rotation, where guys like LeBron and Austin and AD would just absolutely thrive on some of the advantage creation stuff there. I still really, really like a Caruso-Dorosen package, not only because of Alex Caruso specifically addressing that two-way point of attack defender need. But DeMarter Rosen, after having a really rough start to the season, has been hooping his ass off as of late and is up well over a point per possession in pick and roll. I saw in post-ups, including passes. He could be an example of one of those guys where like when LeBron and AD don't want to

just play bully ball every damn possession, maybe they could try running more of the offense through a high-level shot creator like DeMard Rosen, at least through the context of the regular season. to a point where, you know, you needed to bench Damar and you closed games with Austin, Alex, you know, Tori and LeBron A.D., that would be an option for you there. Or maybe you could do Austin, Alex, and Damar if he's committed to the dirty work stuff. But like the bottom line is, I do think it's one of those things where targeting a guy that can actually play both ends of the floor. And I mean bring high level offense to the table is something that I almost view as a

necessity at this point. Although one other thing, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a clear leaning into a specific rotation and leaning back into the offensive identity that they used last year if we saw a significant uptick and offensive rating. But here's the thing. What I would do is I'd settle into that rotation and be like, let's see what happens in January. And if you see a clear sign of an ascending trajectory on the offensive end of the floor, then you can look to find some more defensive-minded role players. But it's going to be a tough decision. And quite frankly, like, it kind of feels a little bit like every time they

poke one hole, it just opens up another. And that's where it starts to get a little concerning to me. This is where we'll end for today. After all that, though, are you still? And again, before we go any further, as crazy as this all has been, this is not exactly uncommon for a LeBron James team. It's not exactly unprecedented. And we've seen, I vividly remember in 2016, 2015 in December, right before David Black got fired.

It was Kyrie Irving's first game back. I was there. I was in the arena in Phoenix. And LeBron didn't come out until like four minutes before Tip and then just BS through the game. And it was a huge, like, they barely won on it. This is a bad son's team too. they barely won on some Kyrie Irving dagger. And then David Blatt was fired a few days later.

And then they hoisted the trophy. They hoisted the trophy. So it can happen. My question for you is, do you think this Lakers team still has championship potential? Yeah. You know what? I'm going to stand on business and say yes. I think we're in agreement, though, that some things have to change.

And one of those things is establishing a rotation and just sticking with it as best you can. And I think, again, you look at certain teams and they have their top eight or nine. And if player seven or player nine is out of the rotation or maybe both guys due to injuries, they just plug in player 10 and 11 and figure it out. But it doesn't mean, you know, bench two of the starters and put two bench guys in and now have an entirely new lineup, an entirely new rotation, and then also change the schematics with that. And, you know, I think I will give Darwin credit. I think that there's been a lot of negativity. And I thought last night, like, again, the starting lineup to me was one of the better starting lineup decisions that he's made in recent weeks.

I thought it made a lot of sense. As we discussed, like, that is the archetype of what the starting lineup should be, given what we've seen up to this point in the season. And then last night, he benched Tori and Prince, who was having a bad game. And he went away from Cam Reddish and Jared Vanderbilt, and he closed with Max Christie and Christian Wood. So, like, there was a level of adjusting and actually playing the players that were playing well and having that flexibility in the fourth quarter last night.

So I think he does deserve credit in him adjusting a little bit more recently. How much of that is because he's starting to be on the hot seat and because some of the internal stuff, like I don't know the answer to that. But I will give him credit for being a little bit more flexible recently with adjusting to, obviously Torian and Cam have been two staples for him kind of regardless of what level of defense they're playing, if they're making shots, their energy level. It's kind of just been like, I trust these guys. I have familiarity with these guys.

I'm going to play them a certain amount of minutes. And that is adjusted a little bit recently. So I will give him credit on that. That said, I think they have to figure out a lineup, a starting lineup and a rotation that makes sense. Stick with that. Give it a couple weeks. See how it looks.

And from there, I think they have to make a trade. I did Spectrum a couple nights ago. And one of the questions was like patience or panic with the Lakers title hopes. And I said panic in so far as as currently constructed, I don't think they can win a championship with this roster. But when I was factoring in their championship potential throughout the season, it's always been they're going to make a trade. And I think that trade can propel them to winning a championship.

Now we have the uncertainty with Arvin Hamm. And is he going to be there? What would it look like if he's not there? So that's kind of a wrinkle that is going to play out, I think, in the next couple weeks. But as long as they make the right trade, which I think they've shown they're capable of making, obviously going back to last season, I think if they can figure out some semblance of continuity over the next few weeks, make a trade, then have to figure it out again. And at least hang in that like six to eight mix, I think they have a shot.

But if they drop the next couple, go under 500, fire Darwin Ham, like all of a sudden, you can start to see this season spiral and get ugly before it gets better. So I'm remaining cautiously optimistic that with the right trade and the right rotation buttons, they can turn this around. But I will say my confidence is definitely lower than it was a week ago, two weeks ago, a month ago. Yeah, I'm in a similar spot. I mean, here's the thing.

I try not to overthink it in the sense that like the Lakers really have been one of the worst effort in energy teams in the league. That's a real thing. I think that's been a consistent theme with LeBron teams since the 2020 year. Not entirely implausible when you think about his age, right? But here's the reality. LeBron James and Anthony Davis are both playing at an all-MBA level. Now, LeBron was god-awful last night.

That would have been the first thing he would have told you if he would have actually done his media availability, right? But, like, LeBron and Anthony Davis are playing at an all-M-A-level. Austin Reeves as your third best player is a really good spot to beat. it's really just finding dependable two-way guys to slot between them, right? And specifically when it comes to LeBron James and Anthony Davis, there really is some truth to the fact that when they get to the postseason, they go up a level.

They really do. It's not even really all that uncommon around the league these days from like Jimmy and Bam. I know they're having a better regular season this year, although Jimmy's hurt. But like they're a team that consistently goes up a level when they get to the post season, right? like the Golden State Warriors last year, like kind of had a year that was full of a lot of issues,

and yet they beat one of the best regular season teams in the league without home court advantage in the first round. And so obviously NBA history tells us that a high seed typically wins the title. And so being the championship favorite is definitely not where I'm going with this. That said, if they make the right trade, this has the foundation of a championship team, which is two legitimate superstars that compete on both ends of the floor and a really good third player to have in that team. And then again, we got to remember they do have the assets. They have players that other teams want. Rui Hachamura is a good basketball player. The teams would be happy to get back into trade, right?

Like, DeAngelo Russell is a regular season innings eater is a guy that would have some value on his contract, right? They have a first round pick to give up. They have guys that can fill, you know, point of attack rolls off the bench if they have to go. and make a trade somewhere down the line, right? But at the end of the day, I do think that this looks more like last year's team in the sense that I view them as a team that would be in a, you know, a seven, two or a six three matchup in the first round. And, you know, you'd be foolish to count them out.

And if they win that, suddenly, you know, they're two series away from the finals, right? So, like, I think it's foolish to count them out, but they absolutely have to hit on a trade and either Darwinham needs to be fired or Darwinham needs to start committing to a basketball all identity and stop grasping at straws so much. But I agree with you in the sense that I think it's too soon to write them off completely. All right, guys, that is all we have for today. Yovan, I sincerely appreciate you on short notice after a crazy night taking the time to come and hang out with us. This was great. As always, do you have any, are you writing anything specific coming out about this story or is it just that joint story that you and Shams released this

morning? Joint story for now, I'm still working, working the phones to see what else I can gather might have another story coming out tomorrow. So TBD on that, but make sure to check out the athletic to stay up to date on everything Lakers and Darvinham. All right. As always, we appreciate you guys and we will see you tomorrow. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some

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