Lakers News: Latest on Carmelo Anthony's Role, Alex Caruso Contract Offer, More
The Los Angeles Lakers and their fans may be in for a long season. LeBron James is sidelined with an abdominal strain, Russell Westbrook is still struggling to adapt to his new home, and teams like the Golden State Warriors and Utah Jazz are beginning to pull away in the Western Conference.
At 6-5, the Lakers look and feel like a mid-level team at best. They certainly aren't carrying the air of a conference favorite.
Things can and will likely change when James returns, but it could be a fight just to make it to the postseason—depending on exactly how much time he's out. The battle without James continues on Wednesday night against a talented Miami Heat team.
Here, we'll into some of the latest buzz heading into Game 12 of L.A.'s 2021-22 season.
Carmelo Anthony Embracing New Role as a Spot-Up Shooter
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It hasn't been all doom and gloom for the Lakers. While Westbrook is struggling, particularly from beyond the arc—he's shooting 25.6 percent from three-point range—fellow offseason addition Carmelo Anthony has been a sniper.
Anthony is making 50 percent of his shots from the floor and 52 percent from beyond the arc. Largely a role-player over the last few seasons, Anthony has found a role in which he can thrive.
"I'm just taking advantage of it," Anthony said, per Austin Green of Silver Screen and Roll. "I'm not thinking about it. Just playing ball, catching and shooting, not giving the defense a chance to get back and close out. It's just something I have always worked on."
As a catch-and-shoot option off the bench, Anthony has been superb. He's averaging 17.6 points, his highest since the 2016-17 season, and should be considered an early favorite for Sixth Man of the Year.
Lakers Offered Alex Caruso a Low-Money Two-Year Deal
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Point guard Alex Caruso never quite wowed the way that Anthony is this season, but he was nevertheless a valuable bench player for L.A. over the last four years. With the Lakers, he averaged 18.9 minutes, 5.9 points, 2.4 assists and 2.3 rebounds.
However, it seems that the Lakers didn't feel that Caruso's contributions warranted a significant long-term deal.
During a recent appearance on J.J. Redick's podcast, The Old Man and the Three (h/t Harrison Faigen of Silver Screen and Roll), Caruso insinuated that L.A.'s offer was smaller than a two-year, $15 million deal.
Caruso also noted that when the Chicago Bulls gave him a four-year, $37 million offer, he gave the Lakers an opportunity to match.
"Essentially we got that offer, went back to L.A., asked if they could do the same, they said 'no.' Asked for something else that was a little less, they said 'no,'" Caruso said.
Caruso, of course, signed with Chicago and has gone on to average 27.9 minutes and 7.8 points with the Bulls.
Lakers Looking for Anthony Davis to Step Up in James' Absence
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With James out, it's going to fall on center/forward Anthony Davis to galvanize the locker room and be a leader on the floor. As Davis recently noted, the Lakers need more from him than just his admittedly impressive stats.
Davis is averaging 23.9 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
"[Carmelo Anthony] is in my ear a lot about leading the team and just controlling the team, especially with [LeBron James] out," Davis said, per Kyle Goon of the Los Angeles Daily News. "We don't have all our guys yet, so guys are playing a lot of minutes now, but it's my job to make sure I stay in command of the team."
Los Angeles is indeed far from full strength. Aside from James, the Lakers have been playing without Trevor Ariza, Talen Horton-Tucker or Kendrick Nunn.
A core group of Davis, Westbrook and Anthony should be good enough for L.A. to continue treading water as it gets healthy. However, Davis is the one who needs to take charge and dictate how games are being played. The Lakers aren't going to keep pace with the conference's contenders if they perform as a group of individuals instead of as a team.
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