Mastodon
@Los Angeles Lakers

Smart or Laravia? Lakers’ Fifth Starter Debate! + Q&A



Smart or Laravia? Lakers’ Fifth Starter Debate! + Q&A

#nba #lakers #ruihachimura
Use promo code HMA on Sleeper and get 100% match up to $100! https://Sleeper.com/promo/HMA. Terms and conditions apply. #Sleeper

Welcome to the Lakers Collective — a weekly Los Angeles Lakers roundtable featuring NBA reporter Jovan Buha (host of Buha’s Block), Trevor Lane (host at Lakers Nation & The NBA Front Office Show), and Jason Timpf (host of Hoops Tonight at The Volume).

Give us a listen on your favorite podcasting platform:

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/lakers-collective/id1848208861
Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/39pI4yRiaDlfaqy6UbhLRR?si=c452a5d2b5ae4476

We go live every Thursday at 10:00 AM PT with sharp analysis, smart X’s-and-O’s talk, and honest conversations about all things Lakers — from game breakdowns and player development to cap moves and playoff paths.
Subscribe to Lakers Collective for new episodes every Thursday, and make sure to follow the whole squad here:

Jovan Buha: https://x.com/jovanbuha

Trevor Lane: https://x.com/Trevor_Lane

Jason Timpf: https://x.com/_JasonLT

29 Comments

  1. Last year, the plan was to have at least Bron or Luka on the court, if not both, at any given time.

    I’d like to do the same this year, with Bron and Smart; they’re both defensive floor generals, calling out opponents’ plays for everyone else to adjust to.

  2. Smart is a premium 6th man (top 5 6th man kind of player). I fear, at his age and his history, injury becomes an issue with starter minutes. He hustles extremely hard and with 150% energy. Starter minutes is asking for an injury.

  3. Lakers are flexible with the pieces we have we should play into that, who's starter doesnt matter, Smart and LaRavia should get the same amount of mins

  4. Marcus gives the Lakers a different look on defensive side and he doesnt cheat the game . You can see his effort every single game plus he can knock down open shots

    What i dont like about Jake is sometimes he is way too slow and he caters to timely TOs especially when he passes the ball

  5. We need a primary defender in the first team. Smart should start and close. Jake is more of a secondary defendar and more an offensive player wich we dont need in the first team

  6. Laravia is not going to be contributing big even by the end of the season, like Hayes in his first season he hadn't worked it out

  7. LeBron, Luka, Austin, Rui, Ayton are your starters. And you can close out and match up however you see fit. I think Rui closes out most nights but I wouldn’t doubt Jake, Smart, Vandy or even Maxi being the 4th or 5th starter on any night depending on how the game is going & the opponents lineup on the floor.

  8. So just going to ignore Rui? It's Luka, AR, Rui, Bron, Ayton. Smart, Knecht, Laravia, Vando, Hayes as your bench

  9. Smart can't shoot to save his life, but he's great on defence. I really like how Jake is playing right now. Bron is the only bully on the Lakers and most efficient player.

  10. Marcus hands down. We don’t need scoring on starting 5 and would be great to get some stops out of the gate.

Write A Comment