since the All-Star break, James has averaged a team-high 38.6 minutes per game, which is also the fourth-most minutes per game any player has averaged since the All-Star break. James has been effective with those minutes, averaging 28.6 points, 8.5 assists, 9.8 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game, but with playoffs almost certainly out of the question this season, it makes sense for him to play less. So is it a possibility that they Lakers are tanking the rest of the season? Probably not after all, 28 to 32 minutes per game is still a good amount of playing time, but it does mean that they’ve likely accepted that playoffs aren’t in the cards for them this season. With that being the case, there is no longer a desperation to win games and, coincidentally, no longer a need to play James heavy minutes.
With Lebron's minute reduction who will it be split upon? I feel as if the minutes will get split up between Lance Stephenson, Reggie Bullock, and Tyson Chandler, they always tend to give good useful minutes when they are out there it would only make since to increase their time for production.But, regardless of where the extra minutes go, the Lakers are wise to take them away from James, not because he’s not good, but because it’s probably in their best interest to have him on the bench.
As it stands, the Lakers are just a game back from having a top-10 pick in the upcoming draft. No, that pick might not get them a shot at Zion Williamson, but it could be seen as a valuable asset on the trade market this summer. After all, top-10 pick sounds better than lottery pick on paper.
I'm not saying that they should now just tank the rest of the season for a top 10 pick, but at this point in the season when you have no hope why not?
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