Exclusive Secret Helps LeBron James Shine With Luka Doncic: Something The Lakers Have Never Seen!
Luka Doncic has achieved his status of being one of the best players in the world by showcasing himself as a dominant on-ball offensive threat. To get the most out of his partnership with LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar needs to add screen-setting to his arsenal.
Zach Kram of ESPN recently highlighted the one stat that could swing every team’s upcoming campaign. For the Lakers, that number was 4.4. That was the total picks Doncic and James had set for each other per 100 possessions in their initial run together.
Not only was that a rather low number, but it was also lopsided in one direction. According to Kram’s intel via Genius IQ, James set 3.8 picks per 100 possessions for Doncic, while Luka only set 0.6 for LeBron.
In order for the Lakers to truly maximize the league’s most unfair superstar advantage, that love needs to go both ways. Doncic and James have to be front and center for the offensive attack, breaking down defenses by forcing them to adapt on the fly to the two-man game of the superstar duo.
Lakers’ superstar duo depends on Doncic embracing an unfamiliar role
The two-man game of Doncic and James should be spammed like that move your annoying friend will not stop doing in a video game. There is truly no having too much of a good thing in this instance.
Kram pointed out, “The Lakers have access to a theoretically unguardable play; picks between James and a talented guard have long forced mismatches and worked wonders. Yet the Lakers didn’t run many pick-and-rolls between their two lead creators after this past season’s blockbuster trade.”
In all fairness, the ESPN writer was sympathetic to the Lakers being forced to adjust on the fly midseason. However, with a full training camp in front of Doncic and James, there will be no further excuses to not take full advantage of what can be had with those two.
Kram pointed that James and Kyrie Irving set 15.1 picks per 100 possessions for each other during their last two seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Austin Reaves and LeBron have similarly leaned on that strategy, averaging 11.3 per 100 during their time together on the Lakers.
It is understandable that of the two, James should be the one coming as the screen guy more often. Doncic will command the ball more often, and the older of the two superstars is more comfortable operating in that secondary role.
However, the chaos that can be created from having defenses scramble to Doncic as the screener is way too good to pass up altogether. 0.6 per 100 possessions is simply way too few instances to force opposing teams to guard what should be a play that leaves them scrambling.
Doncic and James have both proven to be masterful at dicing up a defense with both their scoring and playmaking. Now, Luka must show the Lakers he can be just as malleable as his older counterpart in order for the championship ceiling to burst.