Why These ARE NOT the Same Los Angeles Lakers.. | What you NEED TO KNOW Before the Regular Season!

Why These ARE NOT the Same Los Angeles Lakers.. | What you NEED TO KNOW Before the Regular Season!

[Music] All right, we finally made it. Lakers basketball is back and they will be back on the court tomorrow night in a game that actually does count. So, with that in mind, what do we need to know about them? Whether you’re a casual fan that doesn’t really know much about their new team, their new additions, and simply the 202526 Lakers, what do you need to know about them? Or then if you’re a hardcore fan that wants to know more about their game plan, their scheme, so on and so forth, more about the in-depth level of their team, what do we need to know about that before their first regular season game? Well, we’re going to talk about exactly that. Go through their new team, their likely game plan, and their new tendencies with this new group. We’re going to talk about that and go through all of that during today’s video. But real quick before we get too far into it, I do plan on doing more live streams this season like these some pregame live streams, maybe some post games. So if you do want to check that out and get notified for when I go live, then be sure to hit that notification bell as YouTube will not notify you if you don’t have notifications turned on. And I genuinely appreciate those you that already do without me even having to ask. But with all of that being said, now getting back to our topic and starting with more of a casual perspective, talking about their new team and their new additions that they brought in. Those including Jake Raia, a small forward that they signed from the Sacramento Kings. DeAndre Den, a center, yes, they’re likely starting center. Actually, it is confirmed at this point that they signed via the biomarket from the Portland Trailblazers. Then for Marcus Smart, another biomarket edition that they signed for the Washington Wizards, those being their new additions via free agency, but they also had a few draft day additions too. The first of which being a DHO, their one and only draft pick in which they traded up from 55th to then 45th, eventually to the 36th overall draft pick where they did select a DHO and coming in at a height of 6’7, weighing in at roughly 235 lbs as a rookie, not to mention only 21 years old. So, he definitely has a well-built frame, is an athletic freak, recording a 40-in vertical, and he showed that off throughout the summer. The Lakers themselves even posting clips of him getting up and pretty much biting the rim. Yes, he’s that athletic. That’s their one and only draft pick. But they also picked up Chris Mannon via two-way contract. Another rookie on their team that’s known for being defensive minded. He actually just got cleared to play this week after suffering a sprained ankle roughly a month ago in which he had to sit out the entirety of training camp and preseason with their team. But now he’s able to get back on the court. So looking forward to watching him on the court, which will likely be more with their G- League team, the South Bay Lakers, rather than their big league team. But maybe he can eventually fill in as an injury replacement and possibly crack the rotation later down the road. But then for their final addition, this player being Nick Smith Jr., another player they signed via two-way contract after being weighed by the Charlotte Hornets. He did play through training camp and throw preseason, showing some good moments offensively, but likely won’t be a part of their day one rotation. And well, that covers their new additions. Everyone from Marcus Smart, DeAndre, Jake the Rabia, Aduiro, Chris Madden, and Nick Smith Jr. But then to get slightly more in-depth talking about not only their new additions but their entire rotation and starting lineup, we do have a pretty good idea of what that will look like. After all, JJ RG directly confirmed what their opening day starting lineup will look like. Along with that, he also confirmed that their 10-man rotation will look something like their last preseason game. So, we do have that to go off of here. Their guaranteed and confirmed starting lineup for opening day against Golden State will be as follows. Luca Donuch, Austin Reeves, Gabe Vincent, Rui Hachimura, and DeAndre Aton. Then after that, we know the four guys that are confirmed to come off the bench will be Marcus Smart, Jake the Rabia, Jared Vanderbilt, and Jackson Hayes. That being their confirmed nineman rotation that they showed during their final preseason game and that again JJ Reic did confirm. You know, that’s something that we kind of knew coming in. But this now been confirmed and talked about by JJ Reic. the kind of dark horses after that point for that 10th rotation spot if they do run a 10-man rotation in some games likely will be either Maxi Kibba who did play a little bit during their final preseason game in the third and fourth quarter or possibly Daltton connect who has played quite a bit throughout preseason also has been talked about highly by JJ Reic despite not showing much in actual game action but he could also get playing time as he was a part of the rotation for a majority of last season however it’s been confirmed that their starting lineup will change depending on their matchup. Yes, again it’s been confirmed that Gabe Benson will be in there for game one in their matchup against Golden State, but for their next game and possibly their next 10 to 15 games without LeBron, it might be Marcus Smart the next game. Might be Jared Vanderbilt, might be Jake the Rabia simply depending on their matchup and which one of them JJ Redic would be the best fit for that individual matchup. So again, might be clear for game one, but after that point, it’s not yet clear. And for their overall rotation, that could obviously change too. Depending on individual performance, their team performance, and even if somebody would get hurt, then that obviously could open up a spot. So, yes, while we might know it for game one, we don’t know exactly what it will look like after that point. But, okay, great. Now that we talked about their new additions, their likely starting lineup, and how the rotation will look like entering the regular season, how about their changes and what they actually might do differently on the court? not only about the players and names of the lineup, but what they’re actually going to do with their game plan. Well, if you go back last season, obviously plenty did work for them. They did finish with a record of 15 and 32 after all, ending as the third seed. And despite getting beat by the six seed in the playoffs, obviously something went right for them. Much of that being their offense, coming in as a top three offense postrade deadline after they made the trade for Luca Donuch. Their offense worked well. Their three-point shooting improved drastically. After trading for Luke Donuch, they went from being a bottom five three-point shooting team in regard to both three-point shots attempted per game and three-point shots made per game to then being a top 10 team in all three categories of three-point shots attempted, three-point shots made, and three-point percentage. So, that definitely will look different from last season, no longer being a bottom five three-point shooting team. Whether you’re talking about makes attempts or overall efficiency, they’re going to be a lot better with Luca Donuch on the court. I mean, the shot quality that he generates for teammates is pretty much off the charts, even with LeBron on the team that’s simply not comparable to Luca Donuch. He’s going to get them open and get them routinely open shots that are completely wide open, too. So, offensively, that’ll be one thing that does look different for them and likely will look different for them. But how do they actually get to that point? What kind of offense and what kind of scheme will they run to generate those open three-point shots? Well, we directly saw it throughout preseason running a lot and I mean a lot of five out offense, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Having all five guys outside the three-point line or at least beginning there to start the play out. I mean, that’s pretty much the modern-day NBA offense here. Starting with all five guys out and likely with five guys that can knock down a three-point shot or if you don’t have one, including that player in some kind of motion play, which will likely be a lot of pick and roll with the Lakers new look offense. After all, they added two guys that run a lot of pick and roll or have run a lot of pick and roll on former teams. Luca Donuch last season, for example, running a pick and roll play as the ball handler roughly 40% of his time on the court, which is obviously a lot. Then for DeAndre Aton running a pick and roll play as a pick and roller roughly 28% of the time last season. So including that five out offense with a high pick and roll between those two is something that you’re going to see a lot and I mean a lot of within their offense especially though LeBron on the court though. Apart from that I think another offensive set that we will see a lot of and did see a lot of throughout preseason is the horn set. probably JJ Regg’s favorite set to run offense out of, including two guys at the free throw line, then the other three outside the three-point line with either one ball handler at the top of the key, or often having a guard guard handoff to initiate the offense, sometimes even throwing it to one of the guys in the high post, then running a pick play around them or whatever it might be. That’s a set that they have used commonly and will use commonly again this season. Now, that obviously won’t be the entirety of their offense, but I would point to both the five out and horn set as two of the most frequently used sets that they use to begin and initiate their offense. Yes, out of that there will be plenty of actions from it, whether it be pin down screens in the corner and wing, ram screens from the bottom post to then come up to the top, plenty of actions within it that they have run and will continue to run. But definitely keep an eye out for both the five out and horn set to initiate their offenses with a ton of pick and roll within them, too. But again, like I said before, I’m not very worried about their offense. I mean, with Luca Donuch at the helm, eventually LeBron James, and then a supporting cast of Austin Reeves, DeAndre, so on and so forth around them, I’m not worried about their offense and how good they will eventually be. But how about their defense? Something that wasn’t great for their team, also not as bad as some fans make it out to be, but definitely was not a strong suit for them last season. Coming in at the 17th rated defense last season. Obviously, that’s a bottom half ranking, not a top half ranking, and where they eventually want to get to. What’s the outlook for them here? Well, I definitely point to a few things that they do have to improve in. The first of which, and the first thing that they have been batting for some time now, is their transition defense. If you’re a regular watcher of my channel, then you probably heard me talk about this and not to mention complain about this probably multiple times. Again, this being their transition defense, simply their effort in getting back on defense and getting their defense set up. It’s not been good for some time now. Last season, they ranked 25th in fast break points per game given up to their opponents, giving up 17 of them per game. Obviously, not very good. And like I said, it’s been a problem for some time now. Dating back to the 202122 NBA season, they ranked in the bottom five every single year. So, now is the time to show some improvement. I mean, I think their halfcourt defense was and is actually pretty good, likely even a top 15 half court defense in the NBA, even the potential to be a top 10. But if they don’t improve their full court and transition defense, then it doesn’t matter. That’s got to be priority number one for them. I mean, Reic has talked about it, even talked about it before last season, but it’s yet to show any noticeable improvement from a consistent basis. So, that’s number one for them. though after that and apart from their transition defense again that’s got to be priority number one but after that point there are a few other things I would like them to improve in defensively I’d like to see them become a better defensive rebounding team last season they gave up a lot of offensive rebounds per game also ranked bottom five in that in the NBA so they got to become a better rebounding team which I think they did directly address by signing DeAndre Den and yes he did show that throughout preseason grabbing nine rebounds per game and only 24 minutes per game normally bad, but having a healthy tier at Vanderbilt, one of, if not the best rebounding wing in the entire NBA, then having Jackson Hayes, who put on 15 lbs of muscle this summer as his direct backup should and likely will help their team out with that. And well, I definitely could nitpick a few more things here. I mean, I could point to their defensive playmaking from last season being a bottom 10 team in steals per game or their second chance points and preventing second chance points also not too good. But at the end of the day, I’m going to first prioritize their transition defense, getting back on defense, their communication on defense, their rebounding and preventing second chance points, be offensive rebounds. I’m going to point to that first. Then again, offensively, their schemes and game plan, what they’ve shown and what they plan to do, kind of execute that right and form the best possible offense around Luconic that they can early and often. And with all of that being said, I think that’s what you need to know about them. Everything from their new additions, their current lineup and rotation, who’s healthy for them, what they’ll likely do different, and what will likely be better from last season, and if they can manage to improve a few things. That’s what you got to know entering the regular season. So, with all of that being said, what do you guys think? How do you feel about their team from a casual perspective, their new additions, and what their team currently looks like? What do you think are their strengths, weaknesses, what they have to improve upon, and simply about their new team entering the regular season? 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 dropped 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]

Use code “JSM” at Underdog Fantasy to get up to $1000 in bonus cash on your 1st deposit! – https://play.underdogfantasy.com/p-jsm
Join our NBA Discord! – https://discord.gg/YMykkbnd48
Follow me on Twitter! – https://twitter.com/JSMonYT
IG – https://instagram.com/jsmlakers/
TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@jsmlakers
Subscribe to JSM Clips for additional content! – https://www.youtube.com/@jsmclips
Subscribe to JSM+ for non-Lakers NBA content! – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKtmxXgZuz1u__0U2Qfglrw

Business Inquiries – jsm8.business@gmail.com

Become a JSM Channel member – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC02LnpRDGBlWtHlcMMZoGKg/join