Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers as a team have been up and down following the All-Star break, but the performance of the Big Three -- Luka Donćić, LeBron James and Austin Reaves -- has improved while all three share the court. The well-known data point of their poor performance over the first 152 minutes together this season (which took until February to happen) has been balanced over a much stronger result over the last seven. 

It's an equally small sample size (about 142 minutes), but as a result, the trio is now about a net neutral for the year. 

Does that mean JJ Redick has found something on tape? That the players themselves have started to figure some stuff out? Both? 

What does it mean for the team and the coaching staff if in fact the Lakers have figured out a way for those guys to play together without the team getting crushed? 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

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The Lakers found themselves in a bit of a rock fight on Tuesday, playing a Pelicans team with a lousy record but some quality players, and heading into the fourth were actually down three.

And in a nice turn, LA used a very strong defensive stretch in combination with some balanced offense and timely shotmaking and in the end. Down by four with about nine minutes to go, the Lakers outscored New Orleans 27-14 the rest of the way, including a 17-7 run in the final 5:39. Luka Dončić led the team in scoring with 27 points, along with 10 rebounds and seven assists, but all five Lakers starters finished in double digits.

LeBron James was a major catalyst, not only starting the game strong but using his size in transition to help fuel the Lakers attack. Jaxson Hayes and Deandre Ayton combined to give the Lakers good minutes at center. But among the supporting cast, the star was Marcus Smart, who was his typically disruptive self defensively throughout, but also had a timely 3-pointer late, and made some good plays to set up teammates.

The Lakers might not have inspired a lot of people beating New Orleans and needing plenty of energy and about 46 minutes to do it.  But they won, and it's something to build on.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzkyy

SEGMENT 1: Balance big as Lakers beat New Orleans.

SEGMENT 2: The Lakers are making progress, right?

SEGMENT 3: Huge game Thursday coming.

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The Lakers found themselves in a bit of a rock fight on Tuesday, playing a Pelicans team with a lousy record but some quality players, and heading into the fourth were actually down three. 

And in a nice turn, LA used a very strong defensive stretch in combination with some balanced offense and timely shotmaking and in the end. Down by four with about nine minutes to go, the Lakers outscored New Orleans 27-14 the rest of the way, including a 17-7 run in the final 5:39. Luka Dončić led the team in scoring with 27 points, along with 10 rebounds and seven assists, but all five Lakers starters finished in double digits. 

LeBron James was a major catalyst, not only starting the game strong but using his size in transition to help fuel the Lakers attack. Jaxson Hayes and Deandre Ayton combined to give the Lakers good minutes at center. But among the supporting cast, the star was Marcus Smart, who was his typically disruptive self defensively throughout, but also had a timely 3-pointer late, and made some good plays to set up teammates. 

The Lakers might not have inspired a lot of people beating New Orleans and needing plenty of energy and about 46 minutes to do it.  But they won, and it's something to build on. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzkyy

SEGMENT 1: Balance big as Lakers beat New Orleans. 

SEGMENT 2: The Lakers are making progress, right? 

SEGMENT 3: Huge game Thursday coming. 

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The buyout period has come and gone, and the Lakers don't seem to have missed out on much by signing guard Kobe Bufkin as quickly as they did. In the end, very few players of note actually changed squads, and of those that did (Cam Thomas to Milwaukee, for example) it's hard to see how the Lakers would have been their choice. 

Would Jeremy Sochan (now in New York) be playing more than Bufkin? Probably, if on the margins, because Bufkin isn't playing at all. But would he be making a material difference? Probably not. 

So that's one concern among fans that has passed, but it does lead to another question. 

The Lakers signed Bufkin in part because he's a young player who has lit up the G-League after washing out with the Hawks. For a team with few young players and draft assets, it's not an unreasonable strategy. But once they have young players in the system, do the Lakers do a decent job developing them? Do their young players improve? Are they better at identifying potential NBA talent than they are understanding the value of those players and keeping them? (Think about guys like Scottie Pippen Jr., or Jay Huff.) 

What keeps the Lakers from doing more meaningful player development? 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

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It's good for the Lakers to have the Big Three available, and even better when the Big Three actually produce positive results as a trio, as they've slowly started to do. 

But it does require some sacrifices from all three. And most notably, from Austin Reaves. 

AR put up big numbers at the start of the season when LeBron James was unavailable, and particularly big numbers when James and Luka Dončić were both out. But when all three of them play, it's Reaves who seems to have given up the biggest proportion of his offensive opportunities. So what are the results from that? And how could that impact the way the Lakers are looking at next season, when the Big Three presumably becomes the Big Two, if LeBron leaves as many expect? 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

SEGMENT 2: Sacrifices for Reaves. 

SEGMENT 3: Do not take the Pelicans lightly! 

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When the Lakers acquired Luke Kennard at the trade deadline, most fans understood the team was getting one of the best shooters in the league, not just this year but throughout his career. 

The good news for the team is Kennard's skill set is much more diverse than just shooting. He's been extremely effective from two point range, at the rim, and as a secondary playmaker and even a solid rebounder for his position. 

It's also clear that JJ Redick highly values what Kennard does to raise the floor of the offense as both a floor spacer and a playmaker. 

The flip side comes on defense, where Kennard is willing but deficient. He adds to a list of players that teams eagerly switch hunt Lakers in search of vulnerabilities, whether because they're smaller/slower (ex. Kennard, Austin Reaves) or a player like Luka Donćić where not only can he be beat off the dribble, but also where it's to their advantage to make him run around and try to press through screens. 

So can he raise the team's floor in the playoffs, or will Kennard become a 180-degree version of Jarred Vanderbilt, played off the floor because of his D? 

And what does Kennard's performance mean for next year, when the Lakers will look to construct a roster that fits around Luka? 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

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The Lakers got up early, taking fast control of Sunday's game at home against the Sacramento Kings, using the same balanced first quarter offense that served them well Saturday against the Warriors. Up 38-16 after 12 minutes, they threw it in cruise control a little early, letting the Kings get to within 10 in the third before again putting things in fifth gear. 

From there, the Lakers built up a big lead, maintained it, and as it was on Saturday the Lakers didn't have to play any starters for more than 29 minutes. With a busy schedule coming, this extra rest becomes a big deal. 

Luka Dončić led the way with an easy 28 points, and paced the team with nine assists. LeBron James had 24, Deandre Ayton was a very efficient 6-6 from the floor, and Luke Kennard was again a catalyst off the bench. 

Everyone understands that the Warriors and Kings are not good teams right now. That said, if you drew up a script for what you'd want these games to look like, it almost certainly would have resembled the actual game play very closely. 

And if nothing else, the dark cloud that had been forming over the team has started to lift. With a game against New Orleans Tuesday (a bad Pels team that has played a little better of late) the Lakers have an excellent opportunity to keep the momentum going. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers get an early lead, maintain it to beat Sacramento. 

SEGMENT 2: Finding a formula? 

SEGMENT 3: What feels sustainable here? 

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To say the Lakers needed a palate cleanser is a major understatement. Having lost three in a row, a fourth on Saturday against a shorthanded Golden State team could have led to disaster. 

Instead, the Lakers got a reminder that they can, in fact, play quality basketball, taking control early of a Warriors team that couldn't hit a shot and ever giving it up. Final score, 129-101

It was a balanced effort for the Lakers. 22 points from LeBron James, 28 from Luka Dončić -- all three got extended rest in the fourth quarter -- supplemented by double-digit performances from Luke Kennard (16) and Jake LaRavia (15). The Lakers took care of the ball, were generally attentive defensively, and kept the energy up all evening. You could tell as well in their body language that they badly needed a game like this one. 

Good too that they got to cruise, because they need to be ready and strong Sunday in Sacramento. 

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 

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Oh, Deandre Ayton. 

As the Lakers season has tailed off after a hot start, so too has Ayton's play. He is both symptom and disease, becoming less involved offensively and less engaged overall, which makes him less involved, which makes him less engaged, and so on. But because Ayton can't give himself the ball, he's also a good measure for how little the ball moves these days with the offense. That said, Ayton (who doesn't exactly have much equity anywhere around the league) was the focus of unwanted attention following a feature from ESPN's Dave McMenamin. 

He made a very poor comparison to himself and Rockets center Clint Capela that isn't aging well (and has only been alive for a few days), and other aspects of his colorful personality have emerged as well. 

We recorded this episode before the Lakers lost Thursday in Phoenix -- Ayton was particularly bad -- but we opened to a lot of questions. 

What curve is Ayton being graded on? Is he a bust for the Lakers? Has he met expectations for this season, based on his salary with the Lakers? What now? Because when Ayton plays well, the Lakers tend to win. 

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The Lakers found an interesting way to change the subject after a terrible loss to the Magic on Tuesday.

Thursday, the Lakers went into Phoenix to face a Suns squad without both Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks, and still found a way to lose, 113-110. As it was against Orlando, the Lakers had opportunities to pull ahead and absolutely could have won, but instead lost in the final seconds of the game, failing to connect on a shot that would have (on Tuesday) won the game or (on Thursday) sent it into OT.

Luka Dončić rebounded from a terrible game Tuesday to finish with 41/8/8, but neither Austin Reaves nor LeBron James provided enough offensive support, and broadly speaking the offense as a whole completely collapsed. No movement. No cutting. Not much of anything. The Lakers, despite having Luka, LeBron and AR were out-assisted by a Phoenix team missing a ton of talent.

This feels like a loss that could be the start of a very bad spiral. The Lakers are, as Reaves said after, very frustrated, and it shows. If they can't get things aligned quickly, there's a reasonable chance the whole thing crashes out.

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