The Los Angeles Lakers are going to have to change things up in a major way to find success this season.
Having LeBron James on a roster, even in his 22nd season, is enough to ensure a team should be a playoff-caliber squad. The Los Angeles Lakers, even with Anthony Davis and James, are a mid-table team in the Western Conference.
The Lakers are not only a fringe playoff team and non-title contender, but they don’t have an incredibly bright future. James, as mentioned, is in year 22. Davis, himself, has struggled to remain healthy consistently over the course of his career.
How can the Lakers preserve the two superstars while positioning themselves to win more basketball games? Hall of Fame NBA player Vince Carter has an idea.
There are many headlines surrounding James and potential trades for him. However, should the Lakers keep James on the roster — assuming he wants to stay — they need to do their best to preserve him and his ability as he is well beyond when most players’ wheels have begun to fall off.
Carter recently took to “Run It Back” to give his assessment of the situation in Los Angeles and how the club should handle James moving forward.
He said: “It’s too many minutes, he was playing too many darn minutes. I actually was covering that game and he was playing 35-something minutes,” Carter said.
“And I’m all for him playing every game, that’s not the thing. But playing 35 minutes, I just felt like it was a lot.
“And it’s natural, I can tell you. It wears on you regardless of what your mind, your body is talking to you saying ok we need to slow back.
“Obviously, you take practice time off, we know he doesn’t like to miss practice and he wants to play in games and he’s playing to win, I get it.
“But maybe not 35 minutes. Maybe you preserve him in the first half and you play your bigger minutes in the second half when he gets better.
“I just feel like you have to find time to dial him back. Because do you need LeBron James more in the beginning of the season when AD is playing like this? Or do you need him from the middle to the backend of the year? I think you need him in the backend.”
Essentially, Carter’s method of preserving James is to backload his minutes in the game, while also knocking down the volume of minutes he is playing.
Prior to the season, James claimed he planned on playing all 82 games, which he expected to do while playing a high volume of minutes. He’s played 35 minutes per game in 23 appearances. Earlier this season, Lakers head coach JJ Redick claimed it wouldn’t be in his best interest to play 82 games with the amount of minutes he was playing.
James, of course, is going to have some weight in the decision given his stature in the NBA from his illustrious career. Still, Redick seems to be willing to make sound decisions to protect his body.
“I don’t know that’s in the best interest of him and us if he does that, but if he’s feeling well and feeling good, then he should play,” Redick said earlier this season. “But we obviously want to … manage that as best we can.”
The comments came as James was struggling offensively, too. Maybe reduced minutes and some games off here and there would allow the greatest NBA player of all time to bounce back physically and in terms of production. He is unlikely to face Minnesota this Friday.
The Lakers certainly need the best version of James, no matter how many minutes he ends up playing, if they want to be a sound basketball team this season.
Related Posts
