Lakers Need LeBron More On The Wing Than At Point Guard
The Lakers do have more roster spots to fill out, but as it stands right now, Los Angeles does not have much depth at the small forward position and would be more successful having LeBron start at power forward. Not only does this open up the court for the shooters like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Wesley Matthews, but allows LeBron James to relax a little bit more on the court.
Last season as the point guard of the Lakers, LeBron averaged 3.9 turnovers per game, the third most he has averaged in a single season over the course of his 17-year career. While he would still be one of the Lakers primary ball-handlers, starting Dennis Schroder with LeBron James on the wing gives the Lakers plenty of scoring options from their starting lineup.
With Schroder as the starting point guard, the Lakers starting five would most likely be Schroder, Caldwell-Pope, James, Davis, and Marc Gasol, with Montrezl Harrell, Alex Caruso, Kyle Kuzma, Wesley Matthews, and Markieff Morris as all viable options off of the bench. That is much better than the starting lineup the Lakers rolled out in the playoffs last season and the biggest thing this lineup does for the Lakers is it allows LeBron James to rest more.
LeBron James can obviously still play at one of the highest levels in the league and has shown no signs of aging, but the Lakers do need to take into consideration that James is turning 36 at the end of December. He is in fantastic shape and is going to do everything he can to defend the Lakers’ championship, but giving him the option to take a step back and not do all the work for the Lakers over the course of an 82-game season could prove very beneficial for Los Angeles come time for the playoffs.
While he has come off the bench with the Thunder over the years, Dennis Schroder makes more sense to be the Lakers’ starting point guard this upcoming season and moving LeBron James back to his traditional position at small-forward allows the Lakers to take a lot of the stress and pressure off of LeBron to make all of the plays for the team.
