The Los Angeles Lakers will be returning to their showtime days in a new twist. According to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, the team is planning on starting LeBron James at point guard for the first time in his career.
After waiting for Kawhi Leonard’s free agency decision, the point guard position in the free agency market dried up rather quickly. The Lakers currently have Quinn Cook, Alex Caruso and Rajon as the point guards on the roster.
James has traditionally been a small forward for most of his career and has played a lot at the power forward position in recent years given the league’s move to smaller lineups. Now with the Lakers loaded in the frontcourt with Anthony Davis, Kyle Kuzma, DeMarcus Cousins and JaVale McGee, James will move to the backcourt to start alongside recent acquisition Danny Green.
LeBron has been the primary offensive initiator since he came into the league. The only marked change for him will be the need to defend opposing point guards. That may be an issue given the star’s struggles on that end, particularly during the regular season.
The Lakers will likely start a true center alongside Davis while James and Green man the backcourt. The final position could be up for grabs. Kyle Kuzma could play the small forward position or the team can go small by inserting Cook, Caruso, Avery Bradley or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as the nominal shooting guard with Green guarding bigger wings.
