Now that the 2014-15 NBA season is a quarter of the way through and the Los Angeles Lakers have stumbled through it at 5-15, head coach Byron Scott has made it clear that some changes will be made to the Lakers starting lineup.
This is something fans have been waiting to see for a while, but now the question becomes what move, or moves, should Scott make? Ed Davis for Carlos Boozer has been the popular opinion amongst most fans, but I’m not sure that’s the best move to make, at least by itself.
Contrary to popular belief, the lineup of Davis with the rest of the starters has not performed well this season. Despite posting a slightly better offensive rating (104.2 to 102.7) than the current starting lineup, the defensive rating is seven points worse. Additionally, assists and rebounds are down, and turnovers are up with this lineup.
There are some explanations for this as Davis and Hill together don’t provide the same spacing since Boozer is a much better outside shooter than Davis. Davis also pushes Hill away from the basket which impacts the rebounding.
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Defensively, Davis is the best big man defender on the team, but he has his flaws as well. He can tend to chase blocks which allows layups on offensive rebounds and he is extremely foul prone, leading to free throws for the opposition.
Davis and Nick Young with Lin, Kobe and Hill has actually been even worse than that, posting an abysmal 83.3 offensive rating and an even worse 134.4 defensive rating.
These have been two of the most used five-man units for the Lakers this season, and they have not been good. Making either of those moves may not produce the results fans are hoping for. However, there is one name that hasn’t been mentioned nearly enough when talking about changes to the starting lineup.
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