Fred Katz

And even when they use Jackson Hayes, they tend to employ small team strategies. Now, they're not as small as people say, because like their wings are big. Hachimura is big. And Jared Vanderbilt is big. And like, you look at a lot of their guys, they're big. Luca is a huge point guard. LeBron is big. Like they have big guys, but they employ small team strategies.

Nobody switches on screens more than the Lakers do right now. That is their number one strategy that they deploy. And they'll put out a lineup. that has Austin Reeves, LeBron, Doncic, Hachimura, and Dorian Finney-Smith, where I don't know who the hell is the center. I don't know if it's LeBron. I don't know if it's Dorian Finney-Smith, whatever else. And they will put out that really small lineup.

Nobody switches on screens more than the Lakers do right now. That is their number one strategy that they deploy. And they'll put out a lineup. that has Austin Reeves, LeBron, Doncic, Hachimura, and Dorian Finney-Smith, where I don't know who the hell is the center. I don't know if it's LeBron. I don't know if it's Dorian Finney-Smith, whatever else. And they will put out that really small lineup.

Nobody switches on screens more than the Lakers do right now. That is their number one strategy that they deploy. And they'll put out a lineup. that has Austin Reeves, LeBron, Doncic, Hachimura, and Dorian Finney-Smith, where I don't know who the hell is the center. I don't know if it's LeBron. I don't know if it's Dorian Finney-Smith, whatever else. And they will put out that really small lineup.

And that lineup is not great defensively. It is insane offensively. When they have Austin Reeves, Luka, and LeBron on the court together, they score 100%. 129 points per 100 possessions, which is otherworldly. It's 99th percentile amongst all lineups. It's absolutely crazy, even if they're giving up points. Minnesota, meanwhile, is capable of going small with Nas Reed at the five, but Minnesota...

And that lineup is not great defensively. It is insane offensively. When they have Austin Reeves, Luka, and LeBron on the court together, they score 100%. 129 points per 100 possessions, which is otherworldly. It's 99th percentile amongst all lineups. It's absolutely crazy, even if they're giving up points. Minnesota, meanwhile, is capable of going small with Nas Reed at the five, but Minnesota...

And that lineup is not great defensively. It is insane offensively. When they have Austin Reeves, Luka, and LeBron on the court together, they score 100%. 129 points per 100 possessions, which is otherworldly. It's 99th percentile amongst all lineups. It's absolutely crazy, even if they're giving up points. Minnesota, meanwhile, is capable of going small with Nas Reed at the five, but Minnesota...

Minnesota, when they're best utilized, is going to have Rudy Gobert on the court. So what's going to happen here? Like Minnesota is huge, right? Jade McDaniels is a huge three. Anthony Edwards is a huge two. Nikhil Alexander-Walker defensively plays big. The guy is unbelievable guarding screens if he's going to be in parts of those lineups, if Mike Conley is out and Na is in there instead.

Minnesota, when they're best utilized, is going to have Rudy Gobert on the court. So what's going to happen here? Like Minnesota is huge, right? Jade McDaniels is a huge three. Anthony Edwards is a huge two. Nikhil Alexander-Walker defensively plays big. The guy is unbelievable guarding screens if he's going to be in parts of those lineups, if Mike Conley is out and Na is in there instead.

Minnesota, when they're best utilized, is going to have Rudy Gobert on the court. So what's going to happen here? Like Minnesota is huge, right? Jade McDaniels is a huge three. Anthony Edwards is a huge two. Nikhil Alexander-Walker defensively plays big. The guy is unbelievable guarding screens if he's going to be in parts of those lineups, if Mike Conley is out and Na is in there instead.

And then obviously you have Julius Randle, you have Nas Reed, you have Rudy Gobert, who's a giant center. Like How are those two stylistic contrasts going to work? If the Lakers go to their really small lineup without Jackson Hayes, and even if Jackson Hayes is out there, they switch with Jackson Hayes a lot too because he's got really good feet and has been way better the last three months.

And then obviously you have Julius Randle, you have Nas Reed, you have Rudy Gobert, who's a giant center. Like How are those two stylistic contrasts going to work? If the Lakers go to their really small lineup without Jackson Hayes, and even if Jackson Hayes is out there, they switch with Jackson Hayes a lot too because he's got really good feet and has been way better the last three months.

And then obviously you have Julius Randle, you have Nas Reed, you have Rudy Gobert, who's a giant center. Like How are those two stylistic contrasts going to work? If the Lakers go to their really small lineup without Jackson Hayes, and even if Jackson Hayes is out there, they switch with Jackson Hayes a lot too because he's got really good feet and has been way better the last three months.

It happened before they traded AD. He started to play way better ball. But there's going to be a really interesting stylistic contrast. Are the Wolves going to kill them with size? The Wolves are also one of the best offenses in the league against switches. Anthony Edwards is really good against switches.

It happened before they traded AD. He started to play way better ball. But there's going to be a really interesting stylistic contrast. Are the Wolves going to kill them with size? The Wolves are also one of the best offenses in the league against switches. Anthony Edwards is really good against switches.

It happened before they traded AD. He started to play way better ball. But there's going to be a really interesting stylistic contrast. Are the Wolves going to kill them with size? The Wolves are also one of the best offenses in the league against switches. Anthony Edwards is really good against switches.

Julius Randle has been, for all the flak he's taken this year, has been great against switches. One of the best ways the Wolves create threes is with Julius Randle post-ups. He's been one of the most willing passers out of post-ups this year. He is great at finding guys either on the weak side wing who swing it to the corner or just straight to the weak side corner for threes.

Julius Randle has been, for all the flak he's taken this year, has been great against switches. One of the best ways the Wolves create threes is with Julius Randle post-ups. He's been one of the most willing passers out of post-ups this year. He is great at finding guys either on the weak side wing who swing it to the corner or just straight to the weak side corner for threes.

Julius Randle has been, for all the flak he's taken this year, has been great against switches. One of the best ways the Wolves create threes is with Julius Randle post-ups. He's been one of the most willing passers out of post-ups this year. He is great at finding guys either on the weak side wing who swing it to the corner or just straight to the weak side corner for threes.

It is going to be really interesting stylistically. It's two, I think, really smart coaches too. I'm very excited for this series. It could go either way. And I think it's going to determine like which team can impose its own style. Is the big lineups for Minnesota going to be too much for the Lakers or the small lineups for the Lakers going to be too much for Minnesota?