On December 17, Beijing time, the US media The Ringer mentioned the topic of James playing center. James has played 84 minutes as a center so far this season, so how effective has he played center forward?
The data shows that in the 84 minutes that James played as a center, the Lakers' offensive efficiency was 106.1, the defensive efficiency was 107.4, and the 100 rounds lost to the opponent by 1.3 points. Overall, there is not much advantage, but there are still great differences in the various lineups. So far this season, the Lakers have a total of 4 sets of James's lineup to play center for at least 7 minutes, of which 3 sets are winning points, and the advantage is still obvious.
The best effect was the lineup of Westbrook + Ellington + Munch + Anthony + James, which lasted 12 minutes and won 44.9 points over 100 rounds. In addition, the lineup of Munch + Ellington + Tucker + Anthony + James took 7 minutes to win 33.3 points per 100 rounds; Reeves + Ellington + Tucker + Anthony + James's lineup took 12 minutes to win 29.1 points per 100 rounds.
What are the benefits of James playing center? The US media believes that on the one hand, it enhances the team's mobility, on the other hand, it actually saves James's physical strength, after all, the center moves less, and the 37-year-old James does not have to run all the time. As for the disadvantages, the most important thing is definitely the rebounding, after all, the overall height has dropped a little.
However, considering that the effect of the Big Three with the center has not been good, Vogel can only enrich more styles of play without big men, including having James play center forward. The data shows that when the Lakers' big three are present at the same time, and there is no Howard or Jordan Jr. on the field, the Lakers win 11.4 points in 100 rounds, if the big three and Little Jordan are on the same game, 7.2 points are lost in 100 rounds, and the big three and Howard are on the same field, losing more miserably, losing 19 points in 100 rounds.
Now, the Lakers are facing new problems, Westbrook, Bradley, Howard, Tucker are all in isolation, Vogel has to make new adjustments to the lineup. They signed Thomas Jr. on a 10-day contract, who just scored 42 points on his G-League debut, and his addition also brought some new variables to the Lakers. In particular, the effect of Thomas Jr. and James on the same field is the focus of everyone's attention.
The two briefly became Cavaliers teammates in the 2017–18 season and played 15 games together. Judging from the results of those 15 games alone, it was not ideal. The two played 339 minutes at the same time, with an offensive efficiency of only 104.9 and a defensive efficiency of 120.7, losing 15.8 points per 100 rounds. Now, after 4 years, will the effect of the two people on the same scene be different? Let's wait and see.