3 internal developments that could help the Lakers improve next season

After an ongoing quiet offseason and no moves in free agency, the Lakers now must look in-house to find ways to get better.

Inaction can be frustrating, especially in the face of anticipation. For many, the NBA’s free-agency period is a cherished and thrilling part of the league’s calendar. Players, trades, and forms of transactions fly around so fast you can easily miss them if you don’t have alerts primed from Woj and Shams.

This summer, however, things have felt surprisingly tame. At least that’s been the case for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Whether it’s the boogeyman that is the new second apron, a lack of dance partners or a genuine belief in the current roster, it’s becoming increasingly likely that the Lakers will begin next season looking largely the same.

Although there is still time for the team to make changes, there has been little reported evidence they have an appetite to do so. As it currently stands, their roster is full, they do not have access to any of their exceptions and they are holding firm in their stance not to trade multiple first-round picks.

There are palatable avenues to create extra flexibility like shedding salary by dumping a few of their minimum contracts to a team with cap space or sending out more money in a trade than they get back. Either of these options would open up their taxpayer midlevel exception, which they could use to add a potential impact piece.

But it remains to be seen if they opt to take this route. Their idleness thus far suggests this is the core that will have to lead them forward, for better or for worse.

If that’s the case, here are the three possible ways the team can yield better results next year by tuning up what’s already under the hood.

Optimizing their lineups

One of the easiest and most frequent criticisms of a head coach is their lineup management. Darvin Ham experienced this firsthand this past season as his rotation choices were consistently scrutinized and put under a microscope.

From his preferential treatment of players like Taurean Prince — who he will soon be reunited with in Milwaukee — and Cam Reddish to his constant reshuffling of the starting lineup, Ham’s questionable decisions proved to be the central source of his eventual downfall.

Where Ham came up short is where the Lakers’ new head coach, JJ Redick, will have to shine. While easier said than done, there were clear lineup buttons that could have been pressed earlier last season that may have put the team in a better spot than they ultimately ended up.

Ham’s struggles with his starting five stemmed from his confusing decision to go away from groups that excelled during the Lakers’ trip to the Western Conference Finals, namely, surrounding D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, LeBron James and Anthony Davis with one of Rui Hachimura or Jarred Vanderbilt.

When Ham eventually returned to what previously worked and inserted Hachimura into the starting group, the Lakers went 21-10, had the third-best offense and posted the best net rating (+6.6) of all their lineups that logged at least 200 possessions.

While Ham ultimately got to the right groups, it took far too long. And as a result, it put the Lakers in a self-inflected hole they had to dig themselves out of.

For Redick, a long-time supporter of analytics who has already stated, “I’m going to use math” in his coaching, there’s optimism he’ll find and play the right combinations sooner. This should also include experimenting with more two-big lineups, staggering their non-shooting threats and valuing production over name and age.

This may not solve all the roster issues that remain, but it does represent the right internal moves that can create more margin for error.

Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent shore up the perimeter

Although many have declared the notion a cop-out for the front office’s inaction this summer, the inclusions of a healthy Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent will be big additions to the roster — especially on defense.

Before last season, Vanderbilt and Vincent were expected to play large roles in shoring up the Lakers’ perimeter defense with their combined versatility and aggression. That never came to fruition as both dealt with year-long injuries that resulted in Vanderbilt missing 53 games and Vincent missing 71.

Their absences created a trickle-down effect. Opposing teams exploited the defensive limitations of the Lakers’ backcourt of Russell and Reaves. Protecting the defensive glass proved challenging on a nightly basis and Davis’ responsibilities on that end grew to herculean heights. Because of this, the Lakers finished a mediocre 16th in defensive rating and allowed the most points per game (115.7) in the James/Davis era.

The other inherent issue created by Vanderbilt and Vincent’s absences was the Lakers relying on smaller, less reputable defenders to guard opposing stars. This was best exemplified by how outsized Prince’s role ended up being.

As seen in the chart below, Prince spent the 7th-highest percentage (46%) of time matched up with the toughest scoring ball handlers in the league last season.

For fairness’ sake, Prince did try his best in the opportunities provided to him. But he ultimately proved not shifty enough to keep up with guards in space nor big enough to deter wings down low. This was not his fault. However, it was a clear example of how he was not the proxy needed to replicate the holes that Vanderbilt and Vincent left behind.

With the duo back in the fold this season, the Lakers and Redick should benefit from having more options to turn to. Although they weren’t external additions, they will be useful additions to the roster nonetheless.

Max Christie takes a leap

In many ways, the Lakers have a lot riding on Max Christie being as good as many think he will be and soon.

After a fluctuating role under Ham last season, the Lakers invested in Christie this summer by inking him to a new four-year, $32 million deal. They also did not retain Prince, a stop sign on the depth chart, thus clearing the way for him to be a consistent rotation player this upcoming year.

While still only 21 and younger than many of the rookies this past draft — including his new teammate Dalton Knecht — Christie has shown enough flashes when given playing time to be bullish on him not only living up to the contract but exceeding it.

Although there’s room for improvement, Christie competes hard on the defensive end, is an aggressive rebounder — he ranked in the 68th percentile in defensive rebound percentage among wings — and has bulked up considerably since entering the league to believe in his ability to impact that end.

On offense, Christie has also shown the right complementary skills to slot in any lineup, including next to James and Davis.

After an encouraging rookie season, Christie’s shooting numbers held up this year despite nearly doubling his 3-point attempts. When removing garbage time and heaves, Christie has converted 39.8% of his threes through his first two seasons.

Due to his ability to space the floor, Christie has also shown a knack for attacking hard closeouts and the rim with ferocity. Extra dimensions to his game that suggest more layers still to be revealed.

With Prince's aforementioned departure and no additions to the wing core as of this article, Christie will be expected to step up and into his biggest role yet. How well he fares could end up being one of the biggest swing outcomes of the Lakers’ season.

All stats courtesy of Cleaning the Glass unless otherwise stated.

You can follow Alex on Twitter at @AlexmRegla.