Lakers Training Camp BATTLE Between Rui Hachimura & Jarred Vanderbilt! | Lakers NEW Starting Lineup?

Lakers Training Camp BATTLE Between Rui Hachimura & Jarred Vanderbilt! | Lakers NEW Starting Lineup?

[Music] You know, anytime a team adds new talent to their team, there’s going to be a discussion about potential changes made to the team. Whether that be in regard to the team’s starting lineup, closing lineup, rotation, bench unit, whatever you want to talk about, there’s going to be a talk about it. And for good reason, too. Especially for a team like Lakers who added three quality rotation players. guys like DeAndre Aton, Marcus Smart, Jake Larabia. There’s going to be a talk about where they fall in the rotation. Could they potentially enter the starting lineup? You know, obviously I think that’s a given with DeAndre Aton, but even for Marcus Smart and or Jake the Rabia, is there a potential battle between them and a current member of the starting lineup? Maybe. We’ve already talked about a potential battle between Marcus Smart and Austin Reeves, for example. I personally wouldn’t go that route. Between the injury history of Marcus Smart, the fact that he’ll be learning their team and their playbook, the fact that they already know what they can get from Austin Reeves, and the team continuity with them, I wouldn’t go that route. Or for a battle between Jake Larabia and Rui Hatimura, also wouldn’t go that route. Again, with the team continuity, the fact that Lorravia is more of an if rather than a sure thing as a 3 and option, and simply about again what they get from Hatimura, I wouldn’t go that route, at least not yet. However, if there is a real battle you can point to here, one that’s not between a new addition and a current returning member of the team, a battle that will be between two returning members and therefore team continuity would not be an issue. Two guys that have both been a part of the starting lineup at different times. Two very different players in the court. I would point to both Rui Hatimura and Jared Vanderbilt. Again, two vastly different players we’re talking about here. Hachimura being very good and efficient offensively, Vanderbilt not being so good offensively and even a borderline liability at times. Though he’s actually borderline elite defensively, while Hachimura can be sometimes unplayable defensely. So, we’re going to talk about why that could be an option for them, why it could maybe be a fit upgrade for their starting lineup, potentially help the three of Luca Donic, Austin Reeves, and LeBron James, and both the pros and the cons that would come with it. And well to begin, just because this might be a starting lineup debate, I think I got to clarify that that does not mean it could be a close lineup debate. I personally don’t think that the close lineup will change too much for their team. Yes, there might be the occasional addition of Marcus Smart to their fourth quarter lineups. Might be the occasional addition of Jared Vanderbilt in there like we’ve seen before, but nine times out of 10, I think it’ll be the five of Luca Donic, Austin Reeves, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James, and DeAndre Aton. Though that does mean that they should start and end the same way that they do on the court. And for a starting lineup that might be able to mitigate the defensive issues that they currently do and likely will have again with their current starting lineup, I think the addition of Jared Vanderbilt is a very viable option. I mean, we’re talking about probably the best defender on their team at this point. Following the trade of Anthony Davis, who was the best defender on their team, now it’s probably Jared Vanderbilt when healthy. And I think that title now falls to Jared Vanderbilt when healthy and when actually able to be the defender that he is and is most comfortable on the court. And what I mean by that is the fact that Reic and the current head coaching staff didn’t really use him the way I would have liked. You know, using him more as a big and kind of a helpside defender at the rim rather than that point of attack and simply chaos creating guy in the perimeter. You know, I don’t like to bring up Darvin Ham very often, but if there’s one thing I liked more about Darvin Ham and what he did with an individual player on their team, it would be with Jared Vanderbilt compared to what JJ Reic did with him. Like I said, using him as that chaos creating premature defender, defensive pest on the court. That’s what he did with Jared Vanderbilt and probably when Jared Vanderbilt was at his best on their team. Not to say that he was a bad defender last season. Even in a role that I didn’t prefer him at and probably that he was not the most comfortable with, he was still pretty effective on defense. Whether you’re talking about defensive playmaking, averaging one steal per game in only 16 minutes per game, translating to over two of them per 36 minutes. Talking about deflections, he led the team in deflections per 36 minutes on the court simply in regard to defensive versatility and switching on defense. Vanderbilt per bballind index.com was the NBA’s most versatile, impactful defender last season. Guarding point guards roughly 19.9% of the time, shooting guards 19.3% of the time, small forwards 15.5% of the time, and power forwards 24% of the time along with centers 21.3% of the time. really showing off how different of players he guarded, how often his matchups and switching would change in the court, how he truly can defend and switch one through five, at least sometimes, and isn’t afraid to do it. And the way they utilize him kind of made him do it. That’s kind of the thing you can point to with Jared Vanderbilt that nobody else in their team can currently offer. And well, comparing that to Rui Hachimura, who is really not even close to that. And not to mention currently in a role that he’s really not fit for on defense. Kind of being forced to take on the best wing matchup on the court every game due to playing with both Luca Donic and LeBron who are not going to take on that matchup and shouldn’t take on that matchup for that fact. They’re going to be taking more offball matchups that don’t require them to chase players in the court, guard the best or even second best player on the court. That difficulty and that situation often falls to Rui Hatchima because LeBron and Luca can’t or really shouldn’t do it on the court. And the same can be said for Austin Reeves. So with that in mind here, if we’re simply talking about defense and the better fit for that role on defense in their starting lineup, it would obviously be Jared Vanderbilt. Not even really a discussion in my opinion. Hashimura is not a terrible defender per se, but he’s not a great side to side athlete. Therefore, not translating well to perimeter defense, screen navigation, chasing players in the court, and simply keeping up with guards or wings on the court. That’s definitely not his forte on defense or really any part of his game for that fact, too. So, if we’re simply talking about defense, yes, I obviously would take Jared Vanderbilt. I think pretty much everyone else would too, but obviously there’s more to talk about here than simply defense. I think personally that’s what they need more of their starting lineup. So, I would actually favor it here in this argument, but you obviously have to factor in offense, too. If you’re taking out Ruy Chimero, then you’re obviously losing a lot of reliable three-point shooting. Yes, you still have Austin Reeves in there who shot fairly well from three last season. Roughly 38% on a very high volume 7.3 attempts per game. Also with LeBron and Luca being good three-point shooters, albeit more on ball players rather than off the ball players, even though LeBron can fill that role a bit and obviously did more after they got Luca Donuch. But that was kind of the role that Hashima exclusively filled for their team. Did it very well in regard to both three-point shooting and back door cutting. And they would obviously lose a lot of that if they replaced him with Jared Vanderbilt, who definitely is not a great three-point shooter, nor a great offensive player in general, only shooting 28% from three last season, only shooting 48% from the field, only averaging four points per game compared to Hatchim averaging over 13 points per game. You know, much like the defense argument, it’s not much of a debate. Vanderbilt obviously wins on defense, but Hatchim wins offensively. Not even a fair comparison between them. And it’s really the unfortunate part that one of them isn’t more of a true 3D option or a true two-way option rather than simply being more of a one-way player that they’re very good on that one side of the court, but not so great on the other side of the court. Vanderbilt obviously being the defensive specialist. Hashimura being a true three-level scoring option. Obviously a great three-point shooter and without a doubt a better offensive player, but not so great defensely. And well, that’s kind of what it comes down to here. Do you believe their starting lineup needs a better defensive option? A guy that can take on the toughest perimeter matchup each and every game, or do you think they should maintain what they currently have and prioritize their offense here a bit more? Giving them another three-point shooting option, a guy like Hashimura, who’s a proven efficient three-point shooter, stick with what worked for them kind of, but also lack quite a bit on defense, too. That’s again what it comes down to here. And if you ask me, I would really think heavily about making the change to Jared Vanderbilt. Even though their offense is obviously a big priority and they want reliable three-point shooting around Luca Donuch and LeBron, I think their defense is currently the bigger issue. Hopefully, the addition of DeAndre will help giving them a better rim protector, at least potentially a guy that’s shown it at times and does have the ability to get back to it. But even with that, I don’t think they’re even close to solving their perimeter defense issue. Like I said, I think Hachimura should and will remain a part of their closing lineup, but for the starting lineup and kind of set the tone on defense, I wouldn’t mind the addition of Jared Vanderbilt or simply making that switch. Again, Himra still being in the closing lineup, still getting much more playing time overall than Jared Vanderbilt, remaining around 30 minutes per game compared to Vanderbilt being between 18 and 22. I would actually welcome that addition, or at least trying it out. But with all of that being said, what do you guys think? How do you feel about a potential battle between Jared Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura for the team starting small forward spot? Do you think they should prioritize defense here with Jared Vanderbilt, but then lose offense with Ru Hachimura? Or do you think it should stay the same and they don’t make a switch between them? Let me know your thoughts and what route you would take 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 if you drop 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]

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