Los Angeles Lakers: Building the ideal rotation with LeBron James

By Jason Reed | Jul 7, 2018

BOSTON, MA - MAY 27: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers reacts in the second half against the Boston Celtics during Game Seven of the 2018 NBA Eastern Conference Finals at TD Garden on May 27, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

Power forward:

LeBron James (30 minutes), Kyle Kuzma (18 minutes)

Like we said, LeBron James is going to be playing as the team’s power forward to start next season even if he looks more like a big-bodied point guard than he does a power forward. Regardless of where he plays, LeBron James is going to be LeBron James and have a massive impact.

James is used to a heavy workload and has averaged 38.8 minutes per game throughout his career. While some may think James is going to take minutes off, chances are that the King is still going to be on the court for at least 36 of the game’s 48 minutes. James is too talented to want to sit out any more than three minutes a quarter.

This may not be adding up, though, as we think James will only see 30 minutes at power forward. This will become more clear on the next slide, but only having James play 30 minutes at power forward opens the door for 18 more minutes for Kuzma.

All in all, Kuzma would then have 28 minutes, three minutes fewer than he played last season. Although he is not in the starting five, this would give Kuzma the third-most minutes on the team as well as set him up nicely to win the NBA Sixth-Man of the Year Award.

Now, we go to center, where you may see something that is a tad surprising. However, in today’s NBA, we are probably going to see this happen anyway.

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