NBA Rumors: Lakers Tweaking Things For LeBron James, Preserve Back-To-Back Title Drive

The Los Angeles Lakers are struggling with the injury bug preying on their main stars.

Anthony Davis has been forced ou, and the last thing that head coach Frank Vogel needs is seeing LeBron James hurt.

The four-time NBA champion is not a fan of managed minutes, a common practice these days for teams who want to last until the NBA playoffs.

Regardless, Vogel and the rest of the Lakers organization know that at some point, they need to give LeBron James a bit of a break and preserve him for the tougher battles ahead.

Things are not expected to be easy for the Lakers who have been struggling with the 27-year-old out of the roster. To make things worse, there are COVID-19 related issues to think off.

Dennis Schroder missed some games due to protocols, a situation that is beyond the purple and gold’s control.

To cut a long story short, the Lakers cannot afford to lose any more players due to injuries or due to COVID-19 protocols.

This makes the task of Vogel even more daunting considering he needs to also focus on the healthy and competitive roster come playoff time.

Thus, the Lakers need to find a way to take some load of LeBron James. Vogel has quietly done that during games. He has assigned ball-handling duties to another player to ease the burden.

Other Lakers stepping up in the scoring department could also help, an area that could be filled by Schroder, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Wes Matthews.

“I think in both of these two games [win over Portland and loss to Washington], that’s something we’re trying to get accomplished where ‘Bron doesn’t have to do as much within his minutes,” Vogel stated.

Giving James a night off is possible but risky. The Lakers could put themselves in a bind but need to sacrifice some games.

Games, where James could be kept out, may depend on the team the Lakers are facing and the situation that the team would be in.

James is unlikely to be happy with it, but it is something that needs to be done. If the Lakers want to win another NBA title, preserving their stars to safeguard them from injuries is the best way to go.

The 36-year-old may not like it, but incurring an injury at this stage would be devastating for the Lakers back-to-back NBA title drive.