While LeBron James is still playing at a fairly high level this season, lately, he may have finally been showing some true signs of wear and tear. He’s averaging 21.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and seven assists a game this season, but he hasn’t been making the type of impact that he has made in recent seasons.
He’s shooting 49.9% from the field but only 30.4% from 3-point range, and defensively, he continues to disappoint. Everyone has been talking about the possibility of him leaving the Los Angeles Lakers this summer, whether he joins another team or simply decides to retire.
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Brian Windhorst of ESPN pointed out a sobering truth while on “First Take” about how the Lakers have played with and without James this season. He said that when the 41-year-old has been on the court with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the team has been disappointing, while it has played well with just Doncic and Reaves.
“When Luka, LeBron, and Austin Reaves play together, they’re just not a good team,” Windhorst said. “They’ve been leaning on the fact that injuries have prevented them from having time together, but the data is just the data. When Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic, just two of them out there, the Lakers are an excellent team.”
Los Angeles has had a string of injuries to key players this season. James missed the first 14 games of the schedule due to sciatica, and Reaves was out for 19 games recently with a gastrocnemius strain. But with all three of them available, L.A. is 8-5, which is good, but not good enough considering how talented and skilled those three stars are.
Windhorst pointed out that the Lakers are “one of the worst offensive teams in the league” with all three stars available, and their defense has also been poor during that time. Vishwesha Kumar of Fadeaway Sports spelled out the advanced stats that back up Windhorst’s words.
“In 175 total minutes with all three sharing the floor, the Lakers have posted an offensive rating of 111.6 and a defensive rating of 121.4,” Kumar wrote. “That results in a net rating of -9.8. For a trio expected to anchor a title contender, that is not just underwhelming. It is alarming.”
“… When Luka and LeBron share the floor without Reaves, across 493 minutes, the Lakers post a 117.5 offensive rating but still allow 121.4 defensively, producing a net rating of -3.9. The offense hums, yet the defense bleeds.
“When LeBron and Reaves play together in 177 minutes, the offensive rating sits at 117.1 and the defensive rating at 121.3, leading to a -4.2 net rating. Again, respectable offense, poor defense.”
Even more sobering are the numbers that the Lakers have had when Doncic and Reaves have been together without James.
“The real shock comes from the Luka and Reaves pairing. In 273 minutes, that duo has produced a 127.2 offensive rating and a 108.0 defensive rating, resulting in a stunning +19.3 net rating. That has been the Lakers’ best-performing combination by a wide margin. The spacing improves, the pace quickens, and the defense holds up better.”
While James was out for the first 14 games of this season, L.A. went 10-4. During that time, it ranked 14th in defensive rating, compared to 24th overall on the season. The team is currently 34-23 and in sixth place in the Western Conference, and it has lost half of its last eight games.
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When the Lakers landed Doncic in that tectonic trade last February, there were some doubts about whether he would fit well with Reaves and especially James. It looks like he and Reaves could work well, especially now that Reaves is producing at arguably a near-superstar level, but perhaps James’ usefulness to the Lakers is running out.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Brian Windhorst implies Lakers are better off without LeBron James