Did Lebron and AD show that players 3-15 on NBA rosters are just pawns?

[TylerSL]

It's kinda odd that you want to trash the Lakers 3-15, but want to exclude Rondo/Howard to better make your case because they were quality players. The truth is the Lakers had a pretty decent supporting cast who new how to play their roles, which is all they were required to do. Lebron/AD is the best duo the NBA has seen since Shaq/Kobe so of course the Lakes are going to look top heavy, but that doesn't mean their other players were bad. Rondo, Dwight, KCP, Green, Morris, McGee, and even Kuzma all provided quality to the team to compliment Lebron/AD. Rondo was that extra ball handler/floor general, Dwight was post defense and rebounding, Green was 3 point shooter and perimeter defense, as was KCP. Their supporting cast was just fine. The thing with the Lakers is their supporting cast is constantly going to change year over year because they have to sign players for the mid level or minimum, which means they won't be able to keep everyone together.

[Bostonjorge]

2 years ago Rondo was playing playoff basketball. No play in 2018 averaged more assists in a series then Rondo. Not even Draymond Green. They swept the Blazers in that same series. As some posted, Rondo was nothing/cooked and the very next season without AD Rondo showed he should of retired.

AD was the #1 that year and could make any player average 13 assists a playoff game. AD had a worse #2-15 then the Lakers #3-15. Once AD got hurt pelicans got #1 pick, Zion.

Once AD become a #2 on a team then even guys like Rondo could be led to a championships.

[DanG]

If you have two top 5 players, the rest obviously doesn't matter as much.

I'd put it like this, the 3-15 weren't crazy talented for the Lakers, but they maximized what they could get out of them. That's why LeBron was all about chemistry building in the regular season, and less aggressive offensively at times. He knew by the time playoffs arrive, he would need those players to be confident.

I'd say some players of the Lakers overachieved because of the perfect system around them. However, some players (Rondo, Howard, Kuzma, KCP, Green) would be quality contributors on any team.

There are its pros and cons when it comes to having a 3rd star. Obviously you have a reliable option, but on the other hand, it's easier to gameplan against you, and you'd be very top heavy. The Lakers this year had 4-5 guys that could be the #3 option at any night. It's much harder to gameplan against that.

[Iron24th]

We've had this debate quite a bit over the last month. Some claim Lebron's supporting cast is "stacked." Some think it's hot garbage. I'm somewhere in the middle. Outside of Lebron and AD, I don't think they have a single guy who I would consider an above average starter at any position. But KCP and Green are at least competent starters who are plus overall players, and they have a number of quality supporting guys like Caruso, Rondo, Morris and Howard.

So it's not the worst 3-15 in the league. But I do think if you compared them to other contenders' 3-15, it's probably among the worst, if not the worst. I do think, though, there's something to be said for the fact that they're stacked with quality defenders. There's not a lot of quality offensive guys in that bunch, but almost all of them are great individual defenders, and some of them border on being excellent defenders.

So, no, I don't think 3-15 is totally irrelevant. I think if you really look at those early 2000s Shaq/Kobe Lakers teams, their 3-15 was pretty mediocre, too. But they had solid role players that played to a specific style of play, and I think this Lakers' supporting cast does as well. That being said, if LA wants to win more titles, they've got to improve their supporting cast. I'm not sure they can win next year with the identical group.

You're mostly right and that's why they will make some change for next season, but others contenders/pretenders have to make some changes too because I see no team actually being a lock to win it all as constructed.

[Chronz]

I think we underrate the RS in this regard, having Dwight have such a phenomenal year at C kept Davis' desire to not play the position manageable. For star players to not carry the heavy lifting in terms of physicality defensively all the time keeps them fresh to play their best position when it counts most. His splits at the 4 and 5 were 60-40 in the regular season respectively, in the playoffs that flipped 40-60. And even then it undersells the fact that in the RS he would often play against more bench lineups as a 5.

Bill Simmons ***** on Dwight being unable to play in the Finals as a big win for him but the whole point is that he could provide size when needed, he was huge against Denver and could've been a problem for the Clippers. Dwight had a great year and honestly should've been starting every game but they kept his load lower too.

[Scoots]

No. This sort of thing comes up every year. The NBA is a star driven league but I think the biggest variable this year is the Heat were so injured.

[warfelg]

No. This sort of thing comes up every year. The NBA is a star driven league but I think the biggest variable this year is the Heat were so injured.

That was the biggest variable?!?



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[Bostonjorge]

The point from my post is not to rank the Lakers's supporting cast. The point is to show how little value the supporting cast have. All of them were picked up in free agency after the team was formed on paper. The Lakers did not have to develop any of the players. NBA free agency is always sufficient enough to pick up supporting cast players.

If what I say is correct, then there is absolutely no benefit to developing players.

I agree with you. Teams that are put together in one offseason are always the best teams of the era.

You can argue the “GOAT team 73-9 Warriors”actually got better when they added players from free agency the following year. Look at the Warriors now! A bunch of home grown developed players and last place. Imagine adding some of the Lakers #3-15 to Warriors own developed players and drafting another player to develop? Curry would have to be a GOAT to lead that team to anything. I know I would crown him.

[crewfan13]

There's basically two ways to win. Either have a balanced team with 5 pretty good starters or have 2 (or more) top 5-7 type players. Problem is, the latter way is basically the onto way to sustain success. Given the financial structure of the nba, it's really hard to maintain that 5 really good player roster. Getting 2 studs is really hard too, but once you have them, maintaining that constant roster shuffle is usually easier.

The duncan spurs are the only real abberation for sustained success. TD was a stud, but they never had that 2nd real stud. He had Robinson with him early, but he wasn't exactly the same guy at that point. And guys like Manu and Parker weren't true studs.

[Hawkeye15]

I mean, when your top 2 are LeBron James, and a run of the mill top 5 guy, you don't need much from 3-15, except roles that are correctly attributed. If we were to stack 3-15 from the Lakers against the rest of the league, I imagine the Lakers would be a bottom 1/3rd talent level. But them's the breaks with the salary cap..