Lakers News: LeBron Won't Play 'A Ton' in Preseason and Battle at Point Guard

It appears that the idea of "load management" in the NBA isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

While the technical term for resting a player is normally slated for the regular season, new Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel isn't waiting until then when it comes to LeBron James.

"We want to be intelligent," Vogel told ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "We want to get him enough reps to get him familiar with his teammates and get everybody on the same page, some cohesiveness. But certainly going to be intelligent and not overdo it in the preseason."

Translation: Lakers fans shouldn't expect to see a whole lot of James during the the team's six preseason games.

Load managing James does make a lot of sense, though. The four-time MVP is entering his 17th season and experienced the first major injury of his career last season.

After James went out with a groin injury on Christmas, L.A. wasn't able to recover from his extended absence, finishing 37-45 on the year.

That resulted in the 34-year old superstar missing the playoffs for the first time in 13 seasons.

Missing the postseason is a fate the Lakers prefer not to repeat, so they are exercising caution early on with James.

With that in mind, Vogel is using his time with James wisely by keeping a close eye on the pairing with Anthony Davis.

He wants to make sure they develop the kind of chemistry as the team's two best players that they'll need to be a championship contender.

"We saw a mismatch in LeBron and Anthony's team really sort of had their way with the other teams," Vogel said. "We had three teams out there, and those guys really performed at a high level on both ends of the floor."

And while James won't be on the floor for extended minutes until his squad faces the Los Angeles Clippers to open the regular season on Tuesday, Oct. 22, he and the rest of the roster look like they're ready to put the league on notice, according to Vogel.

"I feel like we're ready to play right now," he added. "We put a lot of stuff in, both offensively with our full offense and the variety of things you can do out of it, as well as a lot of our defensive coverages. We've had a really productive first couple of days, and I'm not worried about us not being ready to play games against Golden State or in China."

For James' part, he's appreciative of Vogel's leadership.

"We all want a coach that holds us accountable and puts us in a position to win," James told reporters. "It's never just about me, it's about the whole team and about how we can all be as great as we can be."

Battle at Point Guard?

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When Rajon Rondo re-signed with the Lakers on a two-year, $2.6 million deal, it was assumed that he would likely be the incumbent starting point guard.

After all, L.A. had included Lonzo Ball in the trade with the New Orleans Pelicans that landed Anthony Davis this past summer and that left a void at the lead guard position.

Rondo seemed to be slated to fill that need, even getting early rave reviews based on his work-outs at the Lakers' practice facility.

"I think Rondo has shot the heck out of the basketball from the three-point line," Vogel told Mike Trudell of NBA.com.

That praise from Vogel was levied before training camp started, though.

In just a few days, another free agent is starting to challenge Rondo for the top floor general spot.

"All anybody's talking about is Avery Bradley's tenaciousness," Vogel told Trudell. "That speaks volumes about what he's been able to show in the first couple of days."

James agrees.

"Avery continues to stand out obviously, just with his defensive tenacity," James added.

Bradley, who signed a two-year, $9.7 million deal with the Lakers this offseason, was brought in for his defensive ability, despite the fact that he hasn't quite been the elite defender he's known for since making the NBA All Defensive First Team back in 2016 as a member of the Boston Celtics.

The 28-year old guard's decline led to him being waived by the Memphis Grizzlies.

But Bradley worked on his game, lost 40 pounds and looks like he's back to his old form.

"Just being in the face of whoever has the basketball," Vogel told McMenamin. "It's become very clear that coaching against him, [we'd] say, 'Don't dribble the ball. If Avery's on you, pass the ball. Just give it up.' Because you're not going anywhere with a bounce with Avery Bradley on you."

Bradley's not viewed as an offensive threat, but he did average 16.1 points per game last season for the Grizzlies. He shot 38.4 percent from the three-point line and Vogel thinks that he's improved on that this offseason.

"He's shooting the ball well offensively, too," Vogel said. "Talk about his tenaciousness, he's really shooting⁠—not just corner 3, the arc 3. Shot at a high level in Memphis last year, has really grown that throughout his career."

Vogel hasn't settled on his starting lineup just yet, so while Rondo, who started 25 games last year, has a head start, it looks like he's in for some serious competition from Bradley.

Follow Maurice Bobb on Twitter, @ReeseReport.