The Los Angeles Lakers supposedly had one of the most successful offseasons, filling a lot of holes that appeared in their Western Conference Finals run. They came into this season with the expectations of winning a championship and so far, they are in the middle of the pack with a 5-5 record.
Anthony Davis has been amazing on both ends to start the season and LeBron James is still defying father time. Even though both players have missed one game a piece, they've been mostly healthy and dominant.
At this point in LeBron's career, he needs his supporting cast to step up and help out when he's not on the court. This is something that the Lakers have not done to begin the season and forcing LeBron to play a lot more minutes than what Darvin Ham was hoping.
Here are three biggest disappointing Lakers to start the season.
3. Jarred Vanderbilt
This will definitely come as a shock to everyone because Jarred Vanderbilt has yet to play a game for the Lakers this season. Even so, he was re-signed by the Lakers to play as a starter for this team and hasn't been able to do it as he recovers from a heel injury.
When the Lakers acquired him midseason last year, he played in the Lakers' last 26 games when they had an 18-8 record and made their way into the play-in. Vanderbilt averaged 7.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.2 steals. What was most important was his defensive impact, which was second-best on the Lakers only behind Anthony Davis.
Vanderbilt provides a defensive intensity that the Lakers need. Last season the Lakers had the third best defensive rating in the NBA when they got Vanderbilt. So far this season, the Lakers are 22nd in defensive rating in large part because Vanderbilt is not playing.
The Lakers have really been struggling on the defensive end to start this season and have not looked like the same defensive team that we saw at the end of last season. Vanderbilt provided a defensive energy that no one else on the team brings outside of Davis.
Vanderbilt won't be providing a huge offensive impact when he comes back from injury but that's not his role. It may be unfair to say that he has been disappointing this year because he hasn't played. The best ability is availability and the Lakers were relying on him to bring a defensive impact this season.
2. Gabe Vincent
Gabe Vincent was one of the Lakers' "big" free agency signings over the offseason. His purpose was to play the basic 3-and-D role because D'Angelo Russell could not defend Jamal Murray and the Lakers needed a defensive-minded guard.
Vincent is coming off a season where he played a big role in an improbable NBA finals run for the Miami Heat. In that playoff run, Vincent averaged 12.7 points and 3.5 assists, shot 37.8 percent from 3 and played solid defense.
Vincent has not been playing remotely close to how he played in the playoffs last year. His averages are 6 points, 3 assists, and a solid 1.5 steals. He is currently shooting 39.3 percent from the field and 7.1 percent from 3.
His shooting percentage has been horrendous, along with a majority of the rest of the players on the team. Right now the Lakers are shooting 30.4 percent from 3 which ranks 29th in the NBA and Vicent shooting seven percent does not help the Lakers at all.
The Lakers lost Dennis Schroder in the offseason who played a huge role with the Lakers last year. Vincent was signed to replace the void that was left by Schroder. They needed Vincent to hit big 3-point shots and clutch free throws down the stretch of games and he hasn't done that.
Vincent has been hurt the last six games but he's only made one 3-point shot to start the season. It is fair that Vincent has been disappointing to start the season but he better play well when he comes back from injury if the Lakers want to succeed.
1. Austin Reaves
Austin Reaves had a breakout season last year when in his last 27 games he averaged 16.5 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists while shooting 57.7 percent from the field, 45.6 percent from 3, and 84.3 percent from the free throw line. Then he continued that in the postseason averaging 16.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists, with .464/.443/.895 shooting splits.
His amazing play made him the 66th-ranked player according to ESPN's top 100 list and he has not been that for the Lakers. So far this season he has been averaging 13.8 points, 4.3 assists, and 4 rebounds, with .438/.318/.839 shooting splits.
He was expected to be the Lakers' third-best player and third star with the Lakers and he hasn't been that. Reaves' inconsistency to start the season has been one of the main reasons for the Lakers' slow start. He's played well in some games but the games he hasn't shown up in, the Lakers have lost.
Darvin Ham is experimenting with having Austin Reaves come off the bench for the last two games and he has played well. He's averaged 16.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists, with .522/.50/1.000 shooting splits, and the Lakers are 2-0.
Right now it has looked like the Lakers found the right recipe for Austin Reaves to be the most successful. Outside of those two really good bench games, Reaves has easily been the most disappointing Laker because he was supposed to be the third star and he hasn't been.
