Adin Ross has never hidden his admiration for the James family. The popular streamer has collaborated with Bronny James and long praised LeBron James for his dominance on the court. That loyalty wavered during the Kendrick Lamar-Drake feud, when Ross disliked LeBron distancing himself from Drake. Still, his criticism stops there, as he continues to respect LeBron’s basketball greatness, unlike his harsher view of most Lakers.

Unsurprisingly, that list includes the Lakers’ breathtaking backcourt duo of Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic. So, although the Purple and Gold sit as the fourth seed in the West, Ross feels the team isn’t as competent as their record suggests. His take is that aside from the ‘Big 3’, the supporting cast is underwhelming.

“Lakers Are Bogus, they are pieces of s–t. Respect to Luka, LeBron, and Austin Reaves, but these other guys are f—ing a–. I’m sorry they are so f—ing trash,” Adin Ross said during a recent stream. These comments come after the Lakers lost to the 13-seeded Los Angeles Clippers.

The LA Lakers, without Reaves’ production and Doncic suffering an injury, only posted 88 points. Except for Jake LaRavia, not a single Laker scored in double-digits aside from LeBron James’ season-high 36 points.

It did spark some concern, but the Lakers were also heavily handicapped. The team was without four of their starters and had to play an entire half without Luka Doncic, who leads the NBA in scoring.

However, the Lakers do rely heavily on their star trio, but it’s also because of their tactical significance. LeBron James, Doncic, and Austin Reaves are the only ball handlers for the Lakers. Naturally, they initiate action most of the time, leaving the supporting cast with the job of hitting timely shots on offense. By logic, it sounds like they aren’t tasked with a heavy load, and they aren’t.

But basketball is all about rhythm. It’s extremely tough for role players to develop a consistent groove when their shot attempts differ massively from game to game. So far, the Lakers’ system has been successful, having lost just eight of their 27 games.

Still, the Lakers aren’t a complete unit just yet. Notably, they are still unstable on one side of the ball.

The Lakers are still a work in progress

Having three eloquent decision makers has the Lakers’ offence soaring. They are posting an offensive rating of 118, the seventh-best mark. However, here’s where it gets interesting. The Lakers are the only team in the NBA with at least 19 games that record a net differential less than +4. As of today, the Lakers’ exchange between offense and defense sees them at +1.2.

That’s the amount of onus placed on their scoring department, where LeBron James, Austi Reaves and Luka Doncic each average over 20 points. The problems occur when one of them fails to record a great game. Defensively, the Lakers lack structure.

Notably, they rank in the bottom half as a rebounding and three-point shooting team. The Lakers are also the only team with a winning record to have one of the top ten worst defensive ratings in the league right now. So, where are things going wrong? As stunning as their starters look, the Lakers haven’t found consistent depth.

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JJ Redick deploys his bench for an average of just 15.4 minutes per game. The Houston Rockets put the same weight on their second unit. Still, their bench produces 9 more points in that same time frame. The problem isn’t the skill of the players, but the makeup of the team. The bench neither comprises athletes who can hound the glass, nor consistent shooters who can capitalise on good looks.

The names are there. Gabe Vincent emerged as a stunning scorer with the Miami Heat, but has been reduced to a spot-up shooter with the Lakers. Hayes can’t compete on the glass against high-calibre centers. Moreover, Dalton Knecht has disappointed, shooting under 35% from three and seemingly falling out of the rotation.

As of now, the Lakers need to address at least some of their weaknesses to give their highly powered offense some wiggle room. Maybe they can explore the trade market or bring some change to the system to integrate their players more. But right now, their results have relied on great individual performances rather than a complete team performance.

Do you agree? Let us know your views in the comments below.