they got to spend years developing all their end of bench guys. this was possible because fans were ok with them being very bad for a substantial stretch. i actually don't think it's special talent-finding. it's good development partially born from a LOT of patience.
With the long break between games, I did this again, mainly because I wanted to see what the rotations look like with LeBron back. Here is the depth chart and all the lineups JJ played on Tuesday. (listed mainly in defensive order) Lakers game 11/18/25 vs Utah Jazz Reaves (13), Smart (15), Vincent (16), Bronny (4) Luka (14), Reaves (20), LaRavia (11), Knecht (4) Rui (14), Luka (17), Smart (2), LaRavia (15) LeBron (30), Rui (12), Luka (3), Thiero (4) Ayton (30), Hayes (15), Kleber (3) 1Q 12:00-6:34 Reaves/Luka/Rui/LeBron/Ayton 5:26 -8 6:34-4:49 Smart/Reaves/Luka/Rui/Ayton 1:45 +0 4:49-4:19 Smart/Reaves/Luka/Rui/Hayes 0:30 +0 4:19-1:58 Smart/LaRavia/Luka/Rui/Hayes 2:21 +5 1:58-0:00 Vincent/LaRavia/Luka/LeBron/Hayes 1:58 -6 2Q 12:00-9:42 Vincent/Reaves/LaRavia/LeBron/Ayton 2:18 +1 9:42-7:26 Vincent/Reaves/Smart/LeBron/Ayton 2:16 +6 7:26-6:11 Smart/Reaves/Luka/LeBron/Ayton 1:15 -6 6:11-5:13 Smart/Luka/Rui/LeBron/Ayton 0:58 +0 5:13-3:45 Smart/LaRavia/Luka/Rui/Hayes 1:28 +0 3:45-2:54 Smart/LaRavia/Luka/Rui/Hayes 0:51 +1 2:54-2:00 Reaves/Luka/Rui/LeBron/Hayes 0:54 +3 2:00-0:18 Reaves/Luka/Rui/LeBron/Ayton 1:42 +4 0:18-0:00 Smart/Reaves/LaRavia/LeBron/Rui 0:18 -4 3Q 12:00-7:20 Reaves/Luka/Rui/LeBron/Ayton 4:40 +1 7:20-5:51 Smart/Reaves/Luka/LeBron/Ayton 1:29 -2 5:51-4:16 Smart/Reaves/Luka/Rui/Ayton 1:35 +4 4:16-1:02 Smart/LaRavia/Luka/Rui/Hayes 3:14 +8 1:02-0:00 Vincent/LaRavia/Luka/LeBron/Hayes 1:02 +4 4Q 12:00-9:16 Vincent/Reaves/LaRavia/LeBron/Hayes 2:44 -2 9:16-6:39 Vincent/Reaves/LaRavia/LeBron/Ayton 2:37 +10 6:39-3:33 Vincent/Reaves/LaRavia/Luka/Ayton 3:06 +2 3:33-2:40 Bronny/Knecht/LaRavia/Thiero/Ayton 0:53 -2 2:40-0:00 Bronny/Knecht/LaRavia/Thiero/Kleber 2:40 -5 The starting lineup of Reaves/Luka/Rui/LeBron/Ayton began -8, but went +4 in the 2Q and opened the 3Q +1, for -3 overall. Reaves/Luka/Rui/LeBron/Hayes went +3. So the combo of Reaves/Luka/Rui/LeBron/Center might not be as bad as we think. We'll see. Most of us want to start Smart over Rui, but the Smart/Reaves/Luka/LeBron/Ayton lineup was bad this game, going -8. Changing LeBron for Rui in the lineup, Smart/Reaves/Luka/Rui/Ayton, went +4 The best units were the Smart/LaRavia/Luka/Rui/Hayes which went +14 in 8 minutes, and Vincent/Reaves/LeBron/Ayton with 1 of LaRavia or Smart which went +17 in 7 minutes. These units feasted on benches, and should remain our mixed starter/bench lineups
Based on what JJ did last game, what has worked this season, and what he might be willing to do going forward, here is a recommended lineup rotation. It starts Rui as JJ has done for politics, but quickly subs him out for Smart with the starters. Rui comes back in when LeBron subs out. This gets us 3 different looks at our top 6 within the first 8 minutes, and slots everyone correctly for the majority of it. Then it gets into the good Luka+bench lineup, the good AR+LeBron+bench lineup, and a good lineup of 2 of the Big 3 + Vando/Rui, before going to the closers to end halves. Listed mainly defensively: 1Q/3Q 3 Reaves/Luka/Rui/LeBron/Ayton 3 Smart/Reaves/Luka/LeBron/Ayton 2 Smart/Reaves/Luka/Rui/Ayton 3 Smart/LaRavia/Luka/Rui/Hayes 1 Vincent/Vando/Luka/LeBron/Rui 2Q/4Q 3 Vincent/Reaves/Vando/LeBron/Rui 3 Vincent/Reaves/LaRavia/LeBron/Ayton 2 Smart/LaRavia/Luka/Rui/Hayes 1 Smart/Reaves/Luka/Rui/Ayton 3 Smart/Reaves/Luka/LeBron/Ayton 36 Luka 36 Reaves 32 LeBron 30 Ayton 30 Rui 28 Smart 16 LaRavia 14 Vincent 10 Hayes 8 Vando Offensively: Luka (36), Reaves (12) Reaves (24), Smart (10), Vincent (14) Rui (14), Smart (18), LaRavia (16) LeBron (32), Rui (16) Ayton (30), Hayes (10), Vando (8) Defensively: Reaves (6), Smart (28), Vincent (14) Luka (6), Reaves (30), LaRavia (10), Vando (2) Rui (6), Luka (30), LaRavia (6), Vando (6) LeBron (32), Rui (16) Ayton (30), Hayes (10), Rui (8)
This looks pretty close to ideal for me. Situationally I could see some alternative minutes for Knecht, Klieber and Bronny for guys like Gabe, Vando and maybe Hayes but probably mostly garbage time minutes unless someone is injured.
