The Lakeshow Review

As the Los Angeles Lakers prepare to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves to kick off the 2025 NBA Playoffs, all eyes will be on their two mega-stars Luka Dončić and LeBron James. However, the teams’ title hopes will rest on the shoulders of those lower on the food chain. Names like Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt, Dorian Finney-Smith and Jaxson Hayes will all have a say as far as how far the team goes in this year’s playoffs.

This series in particular will be a crucial one for big man Jaxson Hayes. He is the only ‘true’ center currently on the team’s rotation (I don’t expect Alex Len to get any meaningful minutes outside of garbage time). Offensively, Hayes’ value comes in the form of his ability to dive to the rim on screens and finish. As well as him utilizing his athleticism for lobs and put-backs. This series looks to be a Jaxson Hayes series. Given that Minnesota is a team that likes to hedge and blitz on ball screens. They also like to play drop coverage a good deal, but might be deterred from doing so, as Luka Dončić usually thrives in those types of coverages. Minnesota also happen to be one of the teams least likely to switch on defense, as they rank 27th in the NBA in ball screen switches. This provides ample opportunity for Hayes as a roller, finisher and potentially as an outlet man on the short roll as well. His ability to set good screens, occupy the defense as a roll man, as well as his finishing at the rim will absolutely be key. As we know, Hayes isn’t much of a pick and pop threat, nor does he score consistently or effectively on post isolations. So the entirety of his value offensively is predicated on being dynamic on the pick and roll and utilizing his athleticism to finish strong at the rim. This is the series for him to showcase those qualities. It won’t surprising if the Lakers decide to shelve Hayes in crunch time scenarios, as they usually like to go with their “death” lineup, i.e. their “smaller” lineup during such moments. With this in mind, against a bigger and physical opponent in Minnesota, it will be important that Hayes’ minutes, whether it’s 15 or 20 or 25 minutes a night, are maximized to their fullest.

The pick and roll is the ultimate team game (within the game). Its impact is predicated not only on the synergy between the ball-handler and screen-setter, but also on the sharpness in which the off-ball players cut, spot-up and space the floor. Which leads me to my next role player whose impact the Lakers could potentailly benefit greatly from: Rui Hachimura. Rui is someone who’s nonchalantly been a key figure in the Lakers’ strong finish to the regular season. Since the Dončić trade, he’s been shooting close to 39% from beyond the arc, with over 5 attempts per game. He’s also been scoring over 13 points per game, to go with 5 rebounds per game, doing so on 51% from the field. These are robust totals for a fourth option, to flank Dončić, James and Reaves. The Lakers will need some semblance of *this* Rui to show up against Minnesota. With pick and roll savants like James and Dončić on the ball, guys like Rui will almost certainly get a healthy dose of clean looks which could be a swing factor of sorts, depending on the efficiency in which he can knock down these looks. Aside from Finney-Smith, Rui is perhaps LA’s most important pick and pop option. And against drop coverage, these are worth their weight in gold. Defensively, Rui is also crucial. As he is likely one of the bigger players when the Lakers decide to play small. Can he successfully guard someone like Julius Randle? Can he battle with Rudy Gobert down low when the team is playing small? Can he make the defense pay with timely cuts when they help off of him? Can he run the floor during transition? These are all questions that’ll determine how effective this team can be. Of course, you want guys like Gabe and Vando contributing high caliber minutes as well, but if Hachimura can be a top six player in this series, then that’s big upside for LA.

They say defense wins championship. But any great team needs balance in order to make a deep run. The Lakers’ ability to extract maximum value from their depth chart beyond their top three guys will go a long way to strengthening the team’s title aspirations. The Rui’s, Vincents’ and Hayes’ are just as vital to the team as the Luka’s and LeBron’s. Go Lakers.