Lakers News: Darvin Ham Considering Yet Another Change To LA's Starting Lineup

Honestly, good.

After your Los Angeles Lakers got roundly out-rebounded, 47-30, during a narrow 132-126 Game 1 defeat (though the disparity in glass cleaning really hurt LA early on), it appears that head coach Darvin Ham may have realized the error of his ways in sticking with his new-looking starting lineup of D'Angelo Russell, Dennis Schröder, Austin Reaves, LeBron James and Anthony Davis. On Tuesday night, size mattered for a Lakers club starting three guards against a massive Denver Nuggets team, which includes 6'4" point guard Jamal Murray, 6'7" shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, 6'10" small forward Michael Porter Jr., 6'8", 235-pound power forward Aaron Gordon, and 6'11", 284-pound Nikola Jokic.

We heard rumblings yesterday from well-placed beat reporters that Los Angeles was wary of doing anything to disrupt team chemistry, which might include demoting starting point guard D'Angelo Russell to accommodate elevating another forward into the team's first five. Russell, it's believed, may be less-than-enthused about a move to the bench. But Schröder is the better defender, and Russell when he's not nailing threes can be a net negative for LA. 

During the aftermath of last night's TNT broadcast covering an exciting 123-116 Miami Heat road win over a Boston Celtics team that seemed to forget in the second half that Jayson Tatum is its best player, Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report dropped a little intel from his Los Angeles sources about the fate of LA's Game 1 starters.

Sources: Lakers are considering a lineup change for Game 2 versus Nuggets. pic.twitter.com/I8OhxN0Jcc

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) May 18, 2023

“Sources tell me Darvin Ham is considering starting Rui Hachimura in Game 2,” Haynes said during the TNT broadcast.

Hachimura did a solid job guarding All-Star Jokic during the final half of the game's fourth quarter, while Anthony Davis was shifted onto non-shooter Aaron Gordon, with an eye on roving the paint a bit and protecting the backline. Hachimura responded well, throwing Big Honey off his game and helping Los Angeles claw back into the bout. 

Power forward Jarred Vanderbilt, who had been an LA starter until Game 6 of the Lakers' second round matchup against the Golden State Warriors, is a better defender than Hachimura, but Hachimura is the best scorer and shooter by far. Even adding Hachimura, at 6'8", should provide a marked improvement over LA's ill-advanced three-guard approach to this club.

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