In an effort to try and breathe new life into the often uninspired Los Angeles Lakers, Luke Walton rolled out a new, smaller starting lineup last week against the New Orleans Pelicans and they had success with it early on.
Following that game, Walton told reporters that Lonzo Ball — or should I say, the absence of Lonzo Ball — was a driving factor in his decision to change his starting lineup:
“I like what it’s doing. I think its kind of re-energized us. I think we were really struggling in that traditional defense without Lonzo kind of guarding some of those point guards. This seems to kind of have our guys active and moving around a little better, so we’ll stick with it and the more we do it, I expect the better we’ll get at it but it’s been good for us.”
Unfortunately, with the exception of the one game against New Orleans, the lineup was unsuccessful and was eventually scrapped altogether. In the 51 minutes the five-man lineup of Rajon Rondo, Reggie Bullock, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and LeBron James played together, they posted a -6.5 net rating, including a defensive rating of 115.5. That’s not great.
Comparatively, the five-man lineup of Ball Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, James, Kuzma and JaVale McGee posted a net rating of +15.
Ball has his shortcomings as a player, but to say he’s not an impactful player would be inaccurate. It’s safe to say the Lakers are hoping they get good news about their about starting point guard on Thursday, when he will be re-evaluated.
