Lakers News: Insider Hints At Developing Rift Between Darvin Ham, Front Office

What's going on with the Lakers?

Things appear a bit strained in Los Angeles at the moment. 

After dropping the Christmas Day contest at home to hated rival Boston, the Los Angeles Lakers (as of Dec. 27) currently with with a 16-15 record. This puts the team at No. 9 in the Western Conference -- only a game ahead of Phoenix. If the playoffs ended today, the Lakers would be forced to participate in the play-in tournament. 

While winning the inaugural In-Season Tournament seemed like a step in the right direction, things have fallen off rather quickly over the last couple of weeks. 

Since beating Indiana, the Lakers have gone 2-6 in their last eight games. LeBron James has been playing well, and Anthony Davis has stayed both healthy and productive. 

However, the rest of the squad has been woefully inconsistent -- from shooting the basketball to defending the opposition.

Hoops Tonight analyst Jason Timpf had The Athletic's Jovan Buha on his show to discuss the team at this current point in time.

Buha is very much dialed into the situation. He opined on several topics, speculating that the constantly changing starting lineup might not be the best thing for continuity or team chemistry.

The most damning comment towards head coach Darvin Ham came when Buha weighed in thusly:

"Even if you look at players' comments postgame, you've seen several guys saying they don't know their role," Buha said. "There is some frustration internally with sticking with a lineup and rotation."

There's been heavy frustration from the fan base surrounding the play of D'Angelo Russell. With rookie Jalen Hood-Schifino clearly not ready for action, the hope was veteran Gabe Vincent would supply the Lakers with a consistent, defensive-minded knockdown shooter from the bench. 

Missing virtually the entire year thus far, it was recently announced that Vincent may be out for up to two months as he undergoes knee surgery. 

Instead of starting Russell or Austin Reaves, the Lakers have gone jumbo with its starting group -- playing LeBron at the point guard spot alongside a wing group featuring Cam Reddish, Taurean Prince, and Jarred Vanderbilt. Davis then assumes the role of the center. 

Vanderbilt is a springy defender with nice versatility. However, he's averaging 1.5 PPG on the year. This includes shooting 28.0 percent from the field and 0.0 percent from three. Reddish is the same type of player. Another defensive specialist, he's shooting below 40 percent from the field on the year (and 30 percent from three). 

While this might be a long and athletic lineup to trot out, it struggles immensely with spacing, perimeter shooting, and shot creation (save for LeBron). It then also puts a ton of pressure on your soon-to-be 39-year-old star. 

Trade rumors have been swirling in recent weeks. Most notably, Atlanta Hawks guard Dejounte Murray could possibly be a trade target. However, until Ham figures out a more functional lineup to put around AD and LeBron, things could continue to get ugly in the uber-competitive Western Conference.