Lakers Training Camp BATTLES for 2025 FULL Rotation! | Battles that JJ Redick is Monitoring CLOSELY

Lakers Training Camp BATTLES for 2025 FULL Rotation! | Battles that JJ Redick is Monitoring CLOSELY

[Music] All right, guys. We are less than one week away from training camp, and I think we have a few training camp battles in our hand here. With the Lakers making a few new additions and adding some new viability to the rotation, there might be some room for some minutes to go up and down and for JJ Regg to make a few changes. So, we’re going to talk about the likely battles that could be had throughout training camp. No, maybe not for a starting spot. I mean, potentially, but more so simply for some minutes to either go to one player over another player and how that might pan out throughout training camp and throughout the entire regular season. So, we’re going to talk about that and go through a few training camp battles during today’s video. And well, without further ado, I think one battle to take a look at and one battle to keep in mind throughout training camp likely will be between Gabe Vincent and Dalton Connect. likely for the 10th and final rotation spot. Given that the Lakers run a 10-man rotation, reports seem to think that they might. And pointing to the Lakers rotation, I think it would make sense. Though, there definitely might be some games where they run a 9 or possibly even an eight-man rotation and other games where they might run a 10 or even 11man rotation. But again, I think that kind of consistent last spot in the rotation, a battle might be had here between Gabe Vincent and Dton Connect. two very different players and two very different skill sets. Vincent kind of being a 3 and D guard, you know, hopefully can be that and has been that times for their team and definitely in the past for teams like the Miami Heat. But he also has been very inconsistent. The same can be said for Dalton Connect coming off a rookie season to where he showed plenty of highs but also plenty of lows, even falling out of the rotation entirely during the latter part of the regular season, not being a part of their playoff rotation. and therefore many believe that he won’t be a part of their regular rotation entering the regular season. However, I think a strong training camp and showing that he has been making improvement, especially on defense, could definitely change that for Dalton Connect. I mean, coming off a rookie season of averaging 9.1 points per game, 2.8 8 rebounds per game, shooting nearly 38% from three on over two made three-point shots per game. Definitely showing plenty of offensive upside, athletic ability upside, ability to play with ball dominant players and attract attention away from them. That’s something you’d like to have in your rotation, but you simply can’t if he can’t at least make a decent impact on defense. And well, for Dolphin Connect, that definitely was not the case last season per defensive EPM rating, rating as the eighth worst defender in the entire NBA last season, posting a negative 2.3 defensive EPM, which definitely dragged down his overall metrics and impact stats on the court having a -2.2 EPM, even with his offensive ability and three-point shooting only posted a plus.1 value over a placement rating. And well, that right there is the argument for Gabe Vincent to get playing time over him and likely claimed that last rotation spot over Daltton Connect, too. I mean, simply put, he’s maybe not the most consistent player on the court, but he is definitely more consistent than Daltton Connect, especially on defense. Per defensive BPM rating, posting a plus.4 rating last season. That to go along with a 35.3% mark from the three-point line. not great and definitely not as good compared to connect or what connect could become for that fact but he’s simply more consistent defensively is more reliable defensively and actually makes an impact to where do connect actually hurts your defense most of the time and well for a team like the Lakers that rated 17th on defense last season they’re definitely trying to show improvement adding guys like Marcus Smart to show that they want improvement and especially in their back court I think that’s the argument for Gabe Vincent to get more playing time if Dolphin connect can improve prove that and that’s what he has to show throughout training camp. That’s kind of what it comes down to here in my opinion. If he can’t show improvement and if he can’t show to be more of a two-way player for them, then the role is going to go to Gabe Vincent. No other way around it. Doesn’t matter about the offensive upside, the three-point shooting ability, and what the guy can do offensively if he can at least kind of help them defensively or at least not hurt them. So, if you want in my opinion, that’s what it comes down to here between these two. No, it doesn’t matter that Dolphin Connect had the better numbers per se last season. Doesn’t matter that he has more upside or is the more intriguing prospect and player in the rotation. It simply comes down to consistency and what they can offer on really both ends of the court, but more of a priority on defense here. And at this point, Gabe Vincent would appear to be even more reliable option for them. Though, apart from that rotation battle, I think another one and another borderline rotation battle might come between Jackson Hayes and Maxiba. You know, KBA currently projecting to be on the outside looking in. Definitely more of a matchup dependent guy for them at this point rather than a guy that likely will be in there every game for them and every game for the rotation. But if he can show that he can get back to what he once was, get back to being effective on both ends of the court, unlike last season where he was pretty panned on both ends of the court. I mean, defensively, okay, per usual, but offensively having the worst year of his entire career, shooting only 38.5% from the field, 28.5% from three, having a poultry 48.9% true shooting percentage, then on top of that, only playing 34 games. So, really can be a reliable option if he can stay on the court and really can’t offer anything offensively. But again, if he can get back to what he once was, or somewhere pretty close to it, being the great running mate that he has been with Luca Donuch for nearly a decade at this point, or at least over half a decade, then he might be able to find his way into the rotation and possibly at the expense of Jackson Hayes, who although is coming off a pretty good year for himself. I mean, during the regular season, unfortunately, did have some fall off and complete fall off out of the rotation during the postseason. But if you’re talking about post straight deadline, he did play very well for their team, averaging over seven points per game, over five rebounds per game, roughly one block per game, shooting a team high 72.2% for their team. Also a team high true shooting percentage at 72% allaround was impactful and even on both ends of the court posting a plus 1.3 defensive BPM rating. That compared to Maxibu posted a plus.4 4 rating having a value over replacement rating of plus.5 compared to KBA who had one of.3. So the numbers definitely point to Hayes here but I think there is more upside with Maxi Kibba and definitely more versatility to be had here with him too. And well if he can show that throughout training camp which he definitely does appear to be in good shape and going through his own little mini body transformation kind of like Luca Nonic then maybe he might draw the attention of JJ Reic. After all, they are former teammates back on the Mavericks, then I think Reic would like the three-point shooting, the floor spacing, defensive switchability, and overall versatility that Clea could offer their team. I think Reic wouldn’t be afraid to go with him over Jackson Hayes. Not even in a matchup depending kind of thing, but potentially in the rotation entirely. Though it comes down to health, viability, and reliability here with Maxiba. I mean, he really might have the biggest range on their entire team. Not only in regard to rotation spot and minutes per game outlook, but about if he can’t stay healthy and can’t he be a reliable option for them, then he very likely will be traded. After all, he does have an expiring contract that they simply can’t let go to waste. If he’s not giving them production, and if he can’t stay on the court, then they’re going to trade that expiring contract for a player who can, or at least they’re going to try to. So, that’s really the outlook here with Maxi Kibba. Definitely a pretty big range for him. Could be on the outside looking in of the rotation. Could climb into the rotation and possibly over a guy like Jackson Hayes. Or if he gets hurt or can’t show production, then he very likely will be traded. But then moving on to a third rotation battle. This one being more of a long-term battle rather than simply a training camp one in my opinion. I’m talking about a battle between Rui Hatimura and Jake Labraia. No, I’m not saying that Labraia will be replacing Hatchim in the starting lineup. I mean, maybe from a long-term standpoint and possibly going into next season, then maybe. I’m simply talking about a minutes battle, possibly a closing lineup battle, and how Jake the Ravia might be able to slowly take away minutes from Rui Hachimura and possibly even become more valuable in that kind of small forward role for their team. I mean, if we’re talking about the role that they would like Hachimura to be able to fill, that would be a kind of big 3 and D wing role, a guy that can take on fairly difficult matchups on defense while doing the stuff that he actually does do offensively. Whether it be the points per game at roughly 12 to 14 points per game, the three-point shooting, leather team, and three-point efficiency last season. You know, I’d like for him to take a few more per game, but even now it’s still pretty good. and overall the impact that he does make on offense. They’re happy with that, but they would like more defensively from him. And that’s where a guy like Jake Raia comes in. Unlike Hashimuro that’s very limited defensively, best match up with a big kind of power forward guy that’s not very quick on the court, isn’t good at keeping up with guards and navigating screens on defense, simply can’t do it, and isn’t something that he should be doing on the court. Larabi actually can do that. Now, I’m not saying he’s a perfect defender, isn’t a lock down kind of screen navigator kind of guy, somebody like a Marcus Smart, for example, or a Jared Vanderbilt, but he does have more upside compared to Hachimura. Pointing to their defensive BPM rating last season, Larabia posting a plus 1.1 rating while Hachimura posted a negative.6 rating and that definitely affected Hachimura’s overall impact metrics having a negative.7 box plus minus rating while the Arabia posted a plus.2 2 rating also having a plus.8 value over a placement rating while Hutchmer had only a plus.6 value over a placement rating. So if we’re talking about simply impact and advanced stats here, they do prefer Jake Rabia. And again, it really does come down to his versatility, making impact not only offensively, kind of like Hachimura, but also defensively, something that Hashimura doesn’t do very much of. And well, if that doesn’t change over time and maybe if the rotation doesn’t change to benefit Hachimura, then I wouldn’t be shocked to see Jake Thorabia take some playing time away from him, possibly finishing a game over Hachimura here and there, maybe in the long term again, starting over him. And maybe that’s a long-term outlook here between them. But I think it might start throughout training camp. If Larabia can make an impact, if he can show to be more versatile than Hashimra, then he might get some more playing time. not overall playing time, but simply taking a minute or two away from Hachimra. I think at the bare minimum, Hachima will be locked into a 26 to up to maybe a 32minute per game kind of role for their team. But slowly but surely, if he can’t make more of a two-way impact, and at the same time, Larabia is making a two-way impact, then maybe Labraia takes some minutes away from him. So definitely something to watch out for here in my opinion, that might start his earliest training camp. And overall, I think those are some of the biggest training camp battles to watch out for. more so the direct one-on-one training camp battles. Definitely, you can make an argument for some bigger battles that might determine some minutes and overall rotation time between different guys. I mean, you can make an argument for one between Rui Hatchima, Jared Vanderbilt, Marcus Smart, and Jake Rabia, how that could play out and who makes the biggest impact in training camp. You know, you can make an argument for that or maybe some minor battle between Adoro and maybe Gabe Vincent as well. But I think the training camp battles of Gabe Benson and Dolan Connect, Jackson Hayes and Maxi Kibba and Jake Theab and Rui Hachimura might be the biggest one-on-one battles to watch out for. Though those are only my thoughts, I’d love to hear your thoughts. What training camp battles are you watching out for? How do you think they’ll play out? And how do you think that might determine the overall rotation? Let me know your thoughts in the comments down below. But I think that’ll pretty much do it for this one. And if you enjoyed the video, then I’ll greatly appreciate it if you drop a like, subscribe to the channel if you have not already, and hit that notification bell to never miss out when I upload a video. But as always, thank you for watching and have a great day or night. [Music]

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