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Lakers have encountered a very specific LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves problem originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Los Angeles Lakers have a problem.
And at least viewed through one lens, that problem includes their three best players: LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
The problem is this: When they're all on the floor together, the Lakers aren't actually that good.
The advanced stats have shown this basically since LeBron and Luka joined forces. When one is on the floor, the Lakers dominate their opponents. When both are on the floor, it's a lot closer to a wash.
It's something that doesn't make a ton of sense, but the sample size is large enough now for it to be true.
“When Luka, LeBron and Austin Reaves play together, they’re just not a good team," ESPN's Brian Windhorst said Wednesday morning in an appearance on First Take. "When it’s just Reaves and Luka, the Lakers are an excellent team.”
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The trickiest part of this, of course, is that the Lakers can't really do anything about it right now.
The trade deadline has passed. They've got the stars that they've got. The only thing they can really do is figure out how to properly meld them together.
Maybe that means avoiding overlap as much as possible — although how do you really do that when they're all playing 30 or more minutes a night?
This could require some more highly focused coaching in certain areas, creating new sets or looks that actually take into account all the playmakers' talents at once.
Maybe it's never going to be a perfect fit. But the Lakers should be doing everything they can to maximize this trio, because at least through the end of this season, it's who they've got.