"Staggering incompetence": NBA analyst lambasts Darvin Ham's Taurean Prince-Cam Reddish lineup as Lakers stare at April exitÂ
The Darvin Ham-led LA Lakers' 2023-2024 season faces a potential premature conclusion, possibly concluding as soon as next Tuesday. The team finds itself teetering on the brink of participation in the 9-10 Play-In game, a high-stakes single-elimination matchup.
Despite their commendable performance, one might wonder how such a scenario unfolded. The narrative could be traced back to late December or early January when Lakers head coach Darvin Ham made a pivotal decision. He opted to introduce a new lineup featuring Cam Reddish and Taurean Prince, supplanting the backcourt duo of D'Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves.
This new configuration complemented the presence of Jarred Vanderbilt, Anthony Davis and LeBron James on the court.
NBA analyst Jason Timpf from the Volume, who covers the Lakers intensively alongside Lakers insider Jovan Buha, had strong words for Darvin Ham following their poor stretch of basketball which led to them in the Play-In situation:
"If we end up writing the obituary let's remember where it went wrong. For a month long period, right after the In-Season Tournament, they went 3-10, a period of time when everybody's got blood on their hands, the players were really unfocused and brought inconsistent effort."
Timpf continued:
"Darvin Ham just completely Galaxy Brained the entire coaching job for the Lakers this year. Middle of January, halfway through the season, the three highest paid players that aren't LeBron James and Anthony Davis, benched them all and leaned heavily into lineups with players that would not crack the rotation for any serious team in the league, it's staggering incompetence".
To secure the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs, the Lakers must emerge victorious in two consecutive games. The Lakers' fate seems increasingly directed towards the 9-10 slots following their defeat against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.
What LA Lakers and Darvin Ham did to turn their season around
The Lakers' fortunes took a turn when coach Ham made the pivotal decision to include forward Rui Hachimura in the starting lineup following Jarred Vanderbilt's foot injury on Feb. 1.
Since then, the Lakers have displayed a remarkable resurgence on the court, going 21-10 with a +3.2 net rating, including an offensive rating of 119.6 and a defensive rating of 116.4, shooting 50.7% from the field and 39.4% from the 3-point line.
However, their resurgence coincided with a surge in performance across the rest of the Western Conference. While the lineup adjustment injected vitality into the team, it may have arrived too late in the season to alter their postseason trajectory significantly.
With only two games left in the regular season, the Lakers find themselves mired in the Play-In tournament scenario. The probability of securing a direct playoff spot has dwindled, leaving their postseason aspirations hanging by a thread.