Let’s talk about first world problems. The 2019-20 Los Angeles Lakers had one obvious weakness: they struggled to score whenever LeBron James left the game. It comes with significant caution that only teams lucky enough to keep LeBron James at the top are burdened with this issue, but it at least gave the opponents a glimmer of hope. Somewhere between 10 and 15 minutes a night, unstoppable lockers died. When James left the ground just before the bubble, the Laker offense dropped from 113.3 points per 100 possessions (equivalent to the 2nd offense of basketball) to 105.2 (equivalent to the 29th offense in basketball).
The lockers spent the office fixing the problem by adding big names. The sixth man of the year, Montreal Harrell Staples, brought his 18.6 points per game across the center hallway, and the runner-up tennis Schroeder, who bought in an office trade, topped the list with an average of 18.9 points. The problem is solved. The lockers went from a bad bench offense to a good one at the break of an officer. They have now gone from a good season to a great place in the pre-season, which is not over yet.
That leap is respectable for an internal addition. Dylan Horton-Tucker spent most of his luxurious season on the bench, occasionally getting spot toot on a team whose minutes are primarily owned by players. He scored over 18 points per game in the G League, and a brief cameo in the second round against Houston is a testament to the team’s confidence in his future. That faith seems to have been rewarded. With two early season games against rival Clippers, Horton-Tucker now averages 27 points per game on 50 percent of shooting.
Paste all the pre-qualifications in those numbers you like. Moves like this make points throughout the year.
Getting the score with the ball in your hands is all good and good, but opportunities like this are rare on championship teams. The points should leave the ball easily, and he has already started to develop a good chemistry with that front mark Casol.
He normally drops the James Horton steps.
No, Horton-Tucker is not going to get an average of 27 points in games played by LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Security is going to adjust. He’s probably not going to open it from behind the arch.
But if having difficulty scoring without a LeBron is a first-world problem, having difficulty finding minutes for everyone with your non-LeBron score is an even less relevant one – the debate over which Lamborghini to drive or which Rolex Recata to wear. Last season, the Lakers really believed that Kyle Kuzma could be their third scorer on the way to a championship. This time, Horton-Tucker makes a compelling case to push Kuzma all the way Sixth.
James and Davis are set to take on the nights this season. Keeping them healthy is a priority for playoffs, which is on the old list. But there will be nights available to everyone, and we’ll find minutes for James, Davis, Schrder, Harrell, Guzm ,n, Cassell, Kentavius Caldwell-Pope, Wes Mathews, Marquez Morris, Alex Caruso and Horton-Tucker. It will attract little sympathy from enemies even if it is a challenge. Playoff cycles are further reduced. The competition will be fierce, which is one of the main advantages of this depth.
If Kusma did not retain the defensive development he showed in the bubble, he might be the odd man out. Caruso will have to demonstrate similar progress as a jump shooter, and Morris will have to go back to the fountain of youth he saw in Orlando. The dominant regular season teams play nine or 10 players. Championship runs are inclined to seven or eight.
The fact that the Lockers have 11 rotation-capable players now almost guarantees they have nine or 10, the regulars they need when the season starts in a week, and seven or eight whenever they stay are the highest stakes. That depth motivates them to certainly swallow thin teams in a compressed season that could be further affected by COVID-19. Lockers have all the skills they need, even if they still don’t know how it’s going to align.
It will be hard for the field to field them this season. A year ago, protesters could at least reliably use LeBron’s sitting minutes to chip into the otherwise indestructible Jagannath. Now? Good luck winning any extension against the reigning champions.