Before taking on the Toronto Raptors on Monday night, head coach Byron Scott made some drastic changes to the starting lineup for the Los Angeles Lakers.
D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle will come off the bench for at least the next five games for Lou Williams and Larry Nance Jr.
As expected, Randle and Russell weren’t thrilled they’d be coming off the bench. Randle was asked about the benching and admitted it isn’t his decision to make whether he starts or plays in the second unit via ESPN’s Baxter Holmes:
Randle: "You’re never going to be thrilled about it as a competitor. It’s out of our control…I don’t know, man. It’s not my decision."
— Baxter Holmes (@BaxterHolmes) December 7, 2015
Although both players expressed frustration with Scott’s decision to have them come off the bench, Russell’s frustration may be on another level altogether. Russell felt as if he was finally starting to figure things out after a slow start and then was demoted to a bench role, via Holmes:
Russell: "I feel like I was starting to figure it out, then this happened. But I don’t feel like it’s…going to get in the way of my growth."
— Baxter Holmes (@BaxterHolmes) December 7, 2015
Coach Scott justified having Russell and Randle coming off the bench by simply admitting the current starting lineup isn’t working. Scott claims Randle and Russell haven’t done anything wrong over the course of the first 20 games, but he wants to mix it up because things haven’t gone as planned, via Holmes:
Byron said the lineup change isn’t because Julius and D’Angelo are doing anything wrong: "It’s based on where we are as a team."
— Baxter Holmes (@BaxterHolmes) December 7, 2015
With the Lakers now sitting at 3-18 following the loss to the Raptors, things obviously haven’t been going their way. The team may have had a couple solid wins over playoff-caliber teams like the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards, but consistency has been a major problem for this team.
Along with Kobe Bryant playing the worst basketball of his career, the team can’t seem to put it together even after showing signs of promise in their three wins this season. It remains to be seen whether inserting Williams and Nance Jr. will have any impact on this squad moving forward. If not, Scott will continue to be the fall guy for this team’s shortcomings.