The Los Angeles Lakers made a key roster decision ahead of their first-round playoff series against the bigger Minnesota Timberwolves.
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka opted not to convert any of their two-way centers Christian Koloko and Trey Jemison III to a standard contract, making them ineligible to play throughout the playoffs.
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported that the Lakers were comfortable with their decision to not convert either big man because they “liked the chemistry of the group” during the regular season and wanted to keep that dynamic together for the playoffs.
McMenamin added both centers practiced with the Lakers and will be with the team for the playoffs.
The Lakers have gotten healthy toward the end of the regular season, getting Rui Hachimura and LeBron James — both can play center in small-ball lineups — back from their injuries.
They will go into the playoffs with only Jaxson Hayes and Alex Len as their true centers. But Hayes is a backup big man at best while Len has been unplayable.
Lakers coach JJ Redick has found success with their small-ball lineups, flanking James with switchable big wings in Hachimura, Dorian Finney-Smith and Jarred Vanderbilt. All of them, however, stand no taller than 6’8.
It will be fascinating to watch if their small-ball lineups can neutralize the Timberwolves big frontcourt composed of Rudy Gobert, Naz Reid and Julius Randle.
Maxi Kleber Progressing
Inspiring more confidence for the Lakers is the progress Maxi Kleber has made in his rehab from a foot surgery.
Kleber was a full participant during Monday’s session, according to Redick. However, he was quick to note that there was no live action.
“[Monday] was just getting back up at the gym, conditioning, lot of shooting,” Redick told reporters. “[Kleber’s] been back on the court, doing court activities, but there’s no timeline [for his return yet].”
Kleber has been out since January after suffering a right foot fracture which required surgery. The 33-year-old veteran big man was a throw-in in the Luka Dončić–Anthony Davis blockbuster trade.
But he could be Redick’s secret weapon in the postseason if he can return.
The 6-foot-10, 240-pound Kleber averaged 3.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 34 games this season for the Dallas Mavericks before his foot injury.
Kleber, a 35.4% 3-point shooter in his career, can spread the floor on offense and is a switchable big man on defense.
LeBron as QB on Defense
Redick likened James to a quarterback of their defense, which was the league-best for more than two months spanning January to March.
“Quarterback is an offensive position, but he’s the quarterback of the defense,” Redick said via NBA.com. “A lot of that is his voice, his IQ.”
He reinforced that again when Redick met with reporters on Tuesday.
“LeBron, throughout the year, has been a real leader on that end of the floor for us,” the rookie head coach told reporters. “I just think the buy-in of what schematically we’re doing, the gameplan we’re giving them has been really good.”
“You’re gonna have games where you don’t have a 106 defensive rating,” he continued. “That’s why it’s your average defensive rating. You might have some 98s mixed in there, and you might have some 132s mixed in there. You’re gonna have some of those outliers, and that’s understandable in an 82-game season…We’ve done enough now, starting with the first Houston game through the last two weeks. It reinforced what we did for 25 games.”
The biggest question though if it is sustainable to rely on the 40-year-old James’ body to not wear down in a potential deep playoff run.
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