Grading every Lakers player’s performance from the team’s 107-102 win over the Bucks in their first preseason win
It came unexpectedly and certainly improbably, but JJ Redick has his first win as Lakers head coach, even in an unofficial capacity.
The end-of-bench group that was much-maligned last season and had struggled this season in the first two preseason games put together an incredible 20-0 run. After falling behind by 15 points in the fourth, the Lakers won the game going away in the end.
It was certainly a fun way to pick up the win and should lift some spirits for the team heading into their final full week of the preseason.
Let’s dive into the win. As always, grades are based on expectations for each player. “A” grade represents the average performance for that player.
25 minutes, 11 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 5-14 FG, 0-4 3PT, 1-2 FT, -1
A more casual game from AD on Thursday. Offensively, he had moments where he imposed himself, particularly in the third quarter against the Bucks reserves.
I’m going to reserve judgment for now, but that jumper certainly isn’t falling with any more regularity from range this year. The good news is his mid-range jumper looks much closer to bubble form.
Defensively, I’m going to put way too much meaning into that block on Giannis Antetokounmpo.
AD's block off the glass ignites the break and Hachimura throws it down
— NBA (@NBA) October 11, 2024
LAL-MIL on NBA TV | #NBAPreseason pic.twitter.com/HcR28ijkVd
Grade: B+
24 minutes, 14 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steal, 6-12 FG, 2-5 3PT, 0-1 FT, +4
I go back and forth as to whether I think Rui looks comfortable in this new system or lost. I think the answer is a little of column A and a little of column B, as is the case with most players on the roster.
The rebounding is one of the things I’m going to be watching. Five rebounds should be an average this season. Ideally, it should be the baseline of what he does, but I’m going to need to see more before I go that far.
Grade: B+
16 minutes, 11 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 4-11 FG, 2-4 3PT, 1-2 FT, +4
LeBron was pretty clearly in cruise control on this one from the start. He had a couple nice moments, knocked down some 3-pointers and then shut it down at halftime.
Fair enough. He clearly didn’t want to be in Milwaukee. I can’t blame him. I’d rather be in SoCal, too.
Grade: C
24 minutes, 6 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists, 3-10 FG, 0-3 3PT, +9
Nothing ho-hum about this. A pretty woeful game from D’Lo. Much like last year, and throughout his career, if he isn’t hitting shots, he doesn’t have much value.
The hope now is that the Lakers have enough other guards to go to on nights like tonight when he doesn’t have it going.
Grade: C-
15 minutes, 8 points, 2 rebounds, 3-4 FG, 2-2 3PT, -6
Getting the starting nod in place of the injured Austin Reaves, Christie found the middle ground between his first and second game. Considering this came largely alongside LeBron and AD, it was nice to see him have success in his role.
The 15 minutes were a result of a minutes restriction he was on for the night.
Grade: B+
34 minutes, 13 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 5-16 FG, 2-10 3PT, 1-2 FT, +0
It was quite interesting that Knecht was the first guard the Lakers went to off the bench with Reaves out. His offense is a skillset that the Lakers don’t really have and if he can even just a good team defender, which I think he was tonight, then it’s going to be really hard to keep him off the floor.
Something that also jumped out is the eight rebounds. Considering how often he’s in the corner and the fact that six of his eight rebounds were offensive, it feels like a direct correlation of corner crashing.
Grade: B+
16 minutes, 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3-4 FG, 0-1 FT, -8
Across three preseason games, Hayes has 18 rebounds despite never playing more than 21 minutes. Last season, there was one three-game stretch where Hayes had 18 rebounds. That’s a big development if it carries into the regular season.
Grade: B+
14 minutes, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 0-2 FG, 0-1 3PT, +1
While he looks healthier, there’s just nothing about Reddish at this point that should lead to him getting minutes over like five other guards. He can be a defensive specialist and unleashed in certain moments and matchups, but all of D’Lo, Reaves, Christie, Knecht and Vincent should be ahead of him on the depth chart.
Grade: C
12 minutes, 4 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1-1 FG, 2-2 FT, +13
This is easily the best Castleton has looked this preseason and something of a best-case scenario for him. And while I’d like to take more away from this, it came against a bunch end-of-bench guys, too.
Still, I’m not going to dock him too much. It was a fun fourth quarter.
Grade: B+
11 minutes, 8 points, 2 assists, 3-5 FG, 2-4 3PT, -12
If nothing else, Vincent just looks healthy this year. He’s moving with more fluidity and looks more comfortable. He, too, was on a minutes restriction on Thursday, leading to him hardly featuring.
Grade: B-
11 minutes, 9 points, 1 block, 3-5 FG, 1-1 3PT, 2-2 FT, +15
I was really worried about Lewis late into tonight’s game when it didn’t seem like he was even going to get garbage time minutes. I’m still pretty down on him overall, but hopefully a game like tonight is enough to convince a team to take a chance so the Lakers can offload him.
Grade: B+
My rule of thumb is that guys must play at least 10 minutes to get graded. Obviously, a couple of people in this group were part of that fourth quarter comeback. Here’s a couple notes:
Not going to give him a grade based on the preseason, but one thing I’d note is that it’s going to be an adjustment for me this season seeing the Lakers hoist so many early transition 3-pointers.
Clearly, this coaching staff values that shot because the team keeps taking them. They don’t feel like a good shot, but, again, clearly the numbers say they are. Maybe if the team started making them, I’d feel better about it.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.
