Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves are expected to be the leaders of the Lakers’ offense this season, and an aggressive group of wing defenders is getting them ready for that role, Benjamin Royer of The Orange County Register writes in a subscriber-only story. “They all annoy the hell out of me,” Reaves said of the group, led by offseason addition Matisse Thybulle, and Thybulle expressed similar respect for the team’s two stars.
“You have to work sooooo hard,” he said. “They’re so talented. … I think for me it’s great because getting to play against two of the best offensive players in the NBA every day just primes you for – I think it primes all of us, but me specifically – just primes you for what to expect.”
Along with Thybulle, the group includes Ziaire Williams, Adou Thiero and Bronny James, who all spend time honing their defensive skills against two of the league’s best scorers. It’s not clear yet how the playing time will be allocated among them once the season begins, but everyone figures to benefit from the training camp battles.
“It’s going to make me better on the defensive end just picking them up full court,” James said. “I’m annoyed by them, they get annoyed with me in practice. … Just continuing to do that will make me better for sure.”
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Forward AK Okereke, wing Arthur Kaluma and guard Chris Manon occupy L.A.’s two-way slots, and coach JJ Redick talked on Saturday about what they can contribute to the team, Royer adds. Redick views Okereke and Kaluma as “3-and-D guys” with good size on the wing, while Manon offers a variety of skills. “He can guard the ball and he can scale up and guard wings as well,” Redick said.
Jake LaRavia helped to stabilize the Lakers last season, playing all 82 games and moving into the starting lineup when Doncic, Reaves and LeBron James were sidelined by injuries. However, he admits that his performance slipped after the All-Star break, and he wasn’t used at all in the team’s final two playoff games, Royer states in a separate story (subscription required). “This summer was a summer of reflection and intentionality for me,” LaRavia said. “I think the way that the second half of the season went last season was not the way that I intended it to go. You hit mental lapses in the season. I hit a mental lapse last season and I wasn’t able to shake back from it. … And as a professional athlete, that can happen, but when you play on this stage, that can’t happen. So this summer, a lot of it was just mental reflection for me and working on that side of the game.”
Bronny James is focused on improving his point guard skills as he prepares for his third NBA season, per Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times (subscriber link). “Just taking those steps, encouraging my guys, getting them in the right spots and stuff like that. Making sure we’re organized,” James said. “For sure, that’s what a point guard is. You’ve got to be talking to your guys, got to be helping people get to where they need to be.”