No big signings on the Lakers side this summer, but a wisely enriched workforce to surround LeBron James and Anthony Davis towards the quest for a new NBA title. Darvin Ham’s men saw their season end in the conference finals against the Nuggets, future champions, and despite a humiliating 4-0, the leaders chose continuity.
The best example is the extension of D’Angelo Russell, rewarded with a new contract of 37 million dollars over two years. Guest from the Patrick Beverley podcastand the leader is clear about the ambitions of his team: they are limitless because the workforce is rich. “We have a lot of players… Making sure to bring what it takes to win every night, I would say that will be our motivation. One evening, it can be by scoring, the next day by giving 8 assists…”
A style of play, a state of mind
On the sidelines of Rui Hachimura’s and therefore D’Angelo Russell’s contract extensions, the Lakers also got their hands on point guard Gabe Vincent, sensation at the start of the Finals, then Jaxson Hayes, who could be established to relieve Anthony Davis in the racket. But above all, they managed to keep their most coveted free agent, Austin Reaves.
It’s one of the reasons why Russell has high expectations of his team. “One night, we can spend the night passing because the defense is blocking you, and we can give the ball to Austin Reaves in the corner, he will put it” continues Russell. “It’s our style of play, our mindset, and if we all have that mentality, then honestly I don’t see any limits to this group.”
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| lebron james | 55 | 35.5 | 50.0 | 32.1 | 76.8 | 1.2 | 7.1 | 8.3 | 6.8 | 3.2 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 28.9 |
| Anthony Davis | 56 | 34.0 | 56.3 | 25.7 | 78.4 | 3.5 | 9.1 | 12.5 | 2.6 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 25.9 |
| D’angelo Russell | 17 | 30.9 | 48.4 | 41.4 | 73.5 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 6.1 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 17.4 |
| Russell Westbrook | 52 | 28.7 | 41.7 | 29.6 | 65.5 | 1.1 | 5.0 | 6.2 | 7.5 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 15.9 |
| Austin Reaves | 64 | 28.8 | 52.9 | 39.8 | 86.4 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 13.0 |
| Dennis Schroder | 66 | 30.1 | 41.5 | 32.9 | 85.7 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 4.5 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 12.6 |
| Thomas Bryant | 41 | 21.4 | 65.4 | 44.0 | 74.1 | 1.6 | 5.2 | 6.8 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 12.1 |
| lonnie walker | 56 | 23.2 | 44.8 | 36.5 | 85.8 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 11.7 |
| Malik Beasley | 26 | 23.9 | 39.2 | 35.3 | 61.9 | 0.3 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 11.1 |
| Rui Hachimura | 33 | 22.4 | 48.5 | 29.6 | 72.1 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 4.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 9.6 |
| Jarred Vanderbilt | 26 | 24.0 | 52.9 | 30.3 | 78.4 | 1.9 | 4.8 | 6.7 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 7.2 |
| Troy Brown, Jr. | 76 | 24.5 | 43.0 | 38.1 | 87.2 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 7.1 |
| Kendrick Nunn | 39 | 13.5 | 40.6 | 32.5 | 81.0 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 6.7 |
| Patrick Beverly | 45 | 26.9 | 40.2 | 34.8 | 78.0 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 6.4 |
| Wenyen Gabriel | 68 | 15.1 | 59.6 | 27.8 | 61.9 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 4.2 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 5.5 |
| matt ryan | 12 | 10.8 | 30.6 | 37.1 | 80.0 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 3.9 |
| Mohammad Bamba | 9 | 9.8 | 40.7 | 31.3 | 54.5 | 1.2 | 3.3 | 4.6 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 3.7 |
| Max Christie | 41 | 12.5 | 41.5 | 41.9 | 87.5 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 3.1 |
| Juan Toscano Anderson | 30 | 12.2 | 50.0 | 20.0 | 73.3 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 2.7 |
| Damian Jones | 22 | 8.0 | 54.1 | 0.0 | 75.0 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 2.5 |
| Scotty Pippen, Jr. | 6 | 5.3 | 33.3 | 33.3 | 55.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 2.3 |
| cole swider | 7 | 5.8 | 33.3 | 37.5 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.3 |
| davon reed | 8 | 3.4 | 75.0 | 50.0 | 25.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.0 |
| Sterling Brown | 4 | 6.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
