The Los Angeles Lakers had what appears to be one of their most successful drafts in a long time this past June, as they took UCLA point guard Lonzo Ball with the second overall pick and then acquired three other picks through trades to take Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart and Thomas Bryant.
The rookie class showed what they are capable of in the Las Vegas Summer League, winning the Lakers their first Summer League Championship in franchise history.
Ball and Kuzma figure to be a big part of the Lakers team this season, as Ball will be the starting point guard and Kuzma has certainly played his way into a big role. When healthy, Hart has shown some promise as well in the preseason while Bryant figures to be more of a developmental project.
According to Lakers Reporter Mike Trudell though, head coach Luke Walton is planning on limiting all their minutes in their first 82-game season:
Walton doesn’t expect any of his young players to play huge minutes. Targeting high 20′s, at most 35 on given nights, for guys like Lonzo.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) October 18, 2017
It appears that the Lakers coaching staff and analytics department did a lot of research to come to that decision, via Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
Luke said they've done a lot of research on rookie minutes (i.e. looking at stars, & how many mins they played as a rook, how they fared…)
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) October 18, 2017
Luke says their research shows 'most young top picks aren’t playing more than 30-35 mins' so that will be a loose minutes guide this season. https://t.co/P6HVpD2rDo
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) October 18, 2017
It is not very often that you see a team with multiple rookies contributing right away, but that will be the case with the Lakers this season as not only will Ball be starting, but Kuzma could also potentially see himself in the starting lineup at some point after his strong Summer League and preseason performances.
Hart is currently dealing with an Achilles bursitis that has him questionable for Thursday’s season opener, but whenever he returns from the injury he could possibly be in Walton’s rotation as well.