How did Wood's rotation change with the Lakers? Team member analysis 10 time allocation: Zhan Huang or a career low
This article was compiled from: The Athletic
Written by Jovan Buha
原标题：Lakers depth chart predictions: How Christian Wood’s signing changes the rotation
With the signing of Christian Wood, the Lakers' offseason operations officially ended, with only a few weeks left before training camp began. Although Wood signed with a base salary, he is expected to play a considerable role on the Lakers' bench. He can decompress Davis and form a twin-tower lineup with Davis, but the Lakers' frontcourt lineup is expected to be more crowded. So how will the Lakers' rotation and time allocation change in the new season?
Let's first take a look at the current roster depth and time expected allocation of the Lakers -
Lakers roster depth 2.0
Point guards: Russell, Vincent, Hood Schiffino
Shooting guards: Reeves, Christie, Lewis
Small forwards: Hachimura, Prince, Reddish
Power forwards: James, Vanderbilt
Center: Davis, Wood, Hayes
The 10-person rotation time is expected to be allocated
Starters: Russell (25 mins), Reeves (33 mins), Hachimura (28 mins), James (32 mins, expected career low), Davis (34 mins)
Subs: Vincent (23 mins), Christie (15 mins), Prince (21 mins), Vanderbilt (8 mins), Wood (21 mins)
Point guard
Expected starter: Russell
Expected replacement: Vincent
Other options: Reeves, James, Hood Siffino
Point guard and quarterback are two positions that Wood won't be affected once he signs. The starting point guard is still an open competition, but Russell is an early favorite, and if the Lakers send him away before the trade deadline to upgrade the rotation, Russell will also need to play good numbers and enhance the value of the trade.
Vincent's theoretical role is similar to that of the departing Schroeder and hopefully one of the lineup members in the closing stages. After last season's trade deadline, Russell was only slightly longer than Schroeder (28.6 minutes), while Schroeder (8.5 minutes) was more likely to play in the fourth quarter than Russell (8.0 minutes). Therefore, it is possible that Hamm will adopt a similar strategy, starting Russell and finishing Vincent. Russell's advantage is in the three-pointer, and Vincent's advantage is in defense. Although the two are nominal point guards, most of the ball is expected to pass James and Reeves' hands, especially in key moments. Hood Schiffino is expected to spend most of his time in the G League.
Shooting guard
Expected starter: Reeves
Expected replacement: Christie
Other options: Reddish, Vincent, Russell
Reeves has played well at the World Cup and is one of the best players on the team, and he is expected to carry that momentum into the third season. Reeves predicted 33 minutes to play, and he proved his prowess. Christie, with his performance in the summer league, is expected to be the first backup for the early quarterback. Reddish also has a chance to compete, but he has to shoot and defend better than he did in the previous four years. Vincent and Russell can also play this position.
Small forward
Expected starter: Hachimura Base
Expected replacement: Prince
Other options: Christie, James, Reddish, Reeves, Vanderbilt
The Lakers once lacked wings, and now there are too many options. One of the strengths of the Lakers' frontcourt is the interchangeability of players. They can all play together and form different similar squads. James, Hachimura, Vanderbilt and Prince can all play both forward positions, while Davis, Wood and Hayes can play power forward as well as center.
That being said, Hachimura is expected to be the Lakers' starting small forward. He has been consistent in the playoffs, averaging 12.2 points per game, shooting 66.8 percent from the field and 48.7 percent from three-point range, and is expected to be one of the core puzzles of the Lakers' future. The Lakers need to give him $17 million a year, and of all the frontcourts, Hachimura can provide the best offensive and defensive combination outside of James. He lost weight during the offseason and is expected to spend more time on the wings.
Prince can play the No. 3 position, and if the Lakers need more projection and offense, he can also go to the No. 4 position. Reddish struggled to get consistent playing time.
Power forward
Expected starter: James
Expected replacement: Vanderbilt
Other options: Hachimura, Davis, Prince, Wood
James has spent most of the past two seasons playing in the power forward position, which makes sense given his age and injury history. In more than 30 minutes of playing time, the soon-to-be-39-year-old James doesn't have enough lateral speed to target elite-caliber outside scorers. He could do that in a short period of time, or try in the playoffs, but asking a 39-year-old entering his 21st season to do it every night would be too much.
Vanderbilt is the biggest victim of Wood's signing, with only 144 minutes available in three frontcourt positions and 96 minutes at power forward and center, and given his shooting shortfall, unless Vanderbilt's projection improves tremendously or the Lakers defense is full of holes, he can only be on the brink of rotation.
In addition, Davis may also occupy the regular season No. 4 spot, which will also affect Vanderbilt.
center
Expected starter: Davis
Expected replacement: Wood
Other options: Hayes, James, Hachimura Base, Castleton (two-way)
Wood will be Davis' first backup, and the two are expected to split 48 minutes in the center position, with James and Hachimura likely to play center in certain matches. Hayes is struggling to get consistent playing time at the moment.
Wood is expected to play more than 20 minutes, and his arrival is expected to occupy all of Hayes' playing time and half of Vanderbilt's playing time, and to find playing time for Hayes, he will have to sacrifice the time of Hachimura, Prince and others. Given James and Davis' need for outside projection and defense, such sacrifices don't make sense.
Of course, the results of the Lakers' experiment with the Twin Towers lineup may affect Hayes' future playing time.