Diagnosing Los Angeles Lakers' Early-Season Flaws
Believe it or not, the 2017-18 Los Angeles Lakers are one step behind the 2016-17 iteration at the 10-game mark.
But if you think this group already feels more advanced than that one ever was, you are not alone. The talent pool is deeper, the defense is more disciplined and the team is less reliant on unsustainable streaky shooting.
Los Angeles isn't without its flaws, though, all of which grow more concerning as the Lakers leave the friendly confines of Staples Center for their first extended road trip of the campaign.
Some faults were anticipated, thanks in no small part to a roster replete with fresh faces and youth. Others weren't as foreseeable, with potential strengths either turning to weaknesses or not being emphasized enough.
Either way, these are the biggest obstacles L.A. must tackle going forward.
Dearth of Shooting
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Two critical elements drive head coach Luke Walton's preferred egalitarian offense—pace and space. The first part of the equation is fine, as the Lakers are cruising at the Association's third-fastest speed. It's the second one that's not only tripping them up, but confining them to the bottom-third of the offensive efficiency rankings (99.8 points per 100 possessions, tied for 25th with the Phoenix Suns).
L.A. can't shoot, or at least can't do it consistently enough away from the basket to unclog the paint.
The Lakers rank a dismal 29th in both three-pointers made (7.4 per game) and three-point percentage (31.4). They only have three players clearing 34 percent from distance. One is starting center Brook Lopez. The others are inside-the-arc scorers Jordan Clarkson and Brandon Ingram, neither of whom takes a quarter of his shots outside.
Lonzo Ball launches more long-range looks than anyone (4.7 per game) despite the fact he's converting them at only a 23.4 percent clip. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope continues to be a perimeter threat in theory but not in practice (31.4 percent). Excluding a 4-of-4 effort on Halloween, Kyle Kuzma is connecting on just 25.7 percent of his attempts.
The good news is this problem should get better. Transitioning to the NBA three can be a slow process for rookies, and KCP was a much better shooter just last season (35.0).
The not-so-great news is L.A. won't escape the efficiency cellar until a solution surfaces. Modern offenses can't function at high levels without three-point competence.
Not Enough BroLo
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The Lakers' biggest offseason draws to Lopez had nothing to do with his on-court abilities. His $22.6 million salary was not only expiring, but it was the avenue with which they could dump the $48 million owed to Timofey Mozgov over the next three years.
But that doesn't change the fact Lopez is the best player sporting purple and gold. He's not quite an elite talent, but he operates like one on this team, pacing it in points, threes and blocks. Only Ingram has a wider on/off split among the regulars than Lopez (plus-1.4 with him, minus-4.4 without), and only Clarkson tops Lopez's 19.9 player efficiency rating.
"... Having Brook, someone we can throw the ball to when we're not making shots, or another team's on a run and he can get us a post bucket...he bails us out a lot," Walton said, per Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times.
Lopez should be more than a bail-out option, though. If the Lakers want to win games—with their 2018 picks gone, there is zero incentive to tank—they should have the 2013 All-Star as a featured part of their attack.
While he does lead them in shots (12.8, four others are above 11 per game), he's only fifth in minutes (25.5 per game). That's not nearly enough time, given the demands for his shooting and shot-blocking. And it's not like Lopez is a major detriment to prospect development, since Kuzma doesn't typically play center, Larry Nance Jr. is injured and Julius Randle is down to fewer than 19 minutes per night.
Lonzo Isn't a Scoring Threat
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It's OK to look at the scoring column and not see Lonzo's name atop it. If you'd been paying attention, you wouldn't be checking the No. 1 spot anyway. During his one-and-done year at UCLA, Ball was third in scoring behind TJ Leaf (the 18th pick in 2017) and Bryce Alford (undrafted).
But collegiate defenses always had to respect Ball as a potential point source. He maximized his scoring chances at least and posted pristine shooting marks from the field (55.1) and three (41.2).
If he could simply do that for the Lakers, their offense might rocket up the rankings. Instead, the lead guard is holding them back, despite the fact he's already an elite distributor (6.9 assists per game, 10th overall). He hasn't found his touch at any level—29.9 percent overall, 23.4 outside, 53.8 at the line—and has made this attack 5.6 points worse per 100 possessions when he's on the floor.
"Lonzo doesn't have anything to fall back on when his shot isn't falling," Jonathan Tjarks wrote for The Ringer. "... He's not a particularly creative scorer, so he has trouble manufacturing good looks in traffic. He doesn't have the strength to finish through the bodies of bigger defenders or the explosiveness to score over the top of them."
Ball's aggressiveness comes and goes, and his outspoken father, LaVar, told Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus he feels the solution is more shots. While regressing to the mean would help his spot-up numbers (5-of-23), his half-court struggles confirm previous concerns.
It's fine if the freshman doesn't pile up the points on a nightly basis. But what he's doing right now—topping 30 percent from the field twice in 10 games—isn't a viable way to run an offense.
Too Many Turnovers
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The Lakers' roster is new, mostly young and trying to play as fast as humanly possible. Bag up those three elements, shake vigorously, and you've just made a turnover feast.
But explaining the blunders isn't the same as forgiving them.
L.A. lacks the firepower to overcome wasted possessions, especially if it wants to make a playoff push at some point. That makes it all the more frustrating that the Lakers are among the Association's worst violators. They sit 29th in turnovers (17.5 per game), 28th in points allowed off turnovers (20.6) and 25th in turnover percentage (16.4).
This can't be pinned on any single player either. Three different starters average multiple giveaways per game (Ball, Ingram and Lopez). Two regular reserves are coughing up more than 3.5 per 36 minutes (Randle and Clarkson). Across the league, 71 players have committed 20-plus turnovers. The Lakers have five of them; only the Miami Heat (4-6) have that many.
Walton has accepted some of this as inevitable. There's no way to skirt around the learning process, and trying times can be some of the best teaching tools.
But if you're dissecting flaws hindering the Lakers right now, this is a monster one. Time and maturation should eventually help, but L.A. must value each and every possession in the meantime.
Missing an Established Star
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If L.A.'s master plan comes to fruition, then its biggest offseason acquisition wasn't Ball, Kuzma, Lopez or Caldwell-Pope. It was the salary-cap space created and the dream-huge possibilities that go along with it.
"[We] did a trade that allowed us to have double-max cap room a July from now, so July 2018," Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said on The Dan Patrick Show this summer. "So with our platform, we're really hopeful we can add maybe a superstar or two to this young core and have the best of both worlds."
The Lakers have handled Ball like a franchise focal point, and they've tasked the rookie with establishing their identity. But his ideal role would involve setting up All-Stars around him, and L.A. hasn't provided any yet.
If Ingram has stardom in his future, it's still at least a year or two down the road. Lopez has never been elite and won't reach that level now with his 30th birthday coming before season's end. Kuzma and Randle can have really good nights, but neither has consistently dominated. Caldwell-Pope and Clarkson hit their ceilings at complementary pieces.
This isn't a recent development. L.A.'s rebuilding strategy is mapped around the admission that it lacks transformative talents. That's why the best-case scenario is a first-round exit, and even that is a long shot in the fully loaded Western Conference.
If the Lakers' surprisingly stingy defense holds up (101.2 points allowed per 100 possessions, seventh in the league), they'll keep themselves close to the race. But when they need a run-stopping basket or a losing-streak-snapping epic performance, their superstar void will be glaring and detrimental.
Unless otherwise indicated, all stats are from Basketball Reference or NBA.com.
Zach Buckley covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @ZachBuckleyNBA.
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