While the Los Angeles Lakers spent last week crisscrossing the country, with 10 days on the road from Atlanta, to Charlotte, to Oklahoma City, to New Orleans and to Milwaukee before heading home, Deandre Ayton became accustomed to a new postgame ritual.
The game would end, Ayton would pull out his phone in the locker room and a text message from LeBron James would be waiting for him and the team in their group chat.
“Just supporting us and knowing that he’s watching,” Ayton said. “And just pumping us up. Even in a loss, he is sending his wisdom and his encouragement. You’ve got to love it.”
From now on, James’ method of delivery will be far more direct.
On Monday, 201 days since Game 5 of their first-round playoff loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, James was back playing 5-on-5 with his team after missing all of training camp, the preseason and L.A.’s first 14 games because of sciatica, the pain radiating across his lower back and down the right side of this body.
L.A. went 10-4 in James’ absence, and Ayton was a major reason. The former No. 1 pick is averaging 16.2 points on 69.2% and 8.4 rebounds in his first taste of life with the Lakers after the franchise added him to fill its void at center, which was created when the team dealt Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks as part of the Luka Doncic trade just before last season’s deadline.
ESPN spoke to more than 10 people inside and outside the Lakers organization, and Ayton’s learning curve and his relationship with the Lakers’ veteran star is just one of the ripple effects those sources will be watching as James returns to form.
Projecting James’ impact entering an unprecedented 23rd season presents an array of possibilities. Will he continue his All-NBA form and contend for his fifth championship? Or was the sciatica an indication that his 40-year-old body won’t hold up with the grind of the schedule?
Will he enhance L.A.’s other stars in Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, or will he stunt the duo’s growth?
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The impact on Ayton is a perfect starting point. Signed to a two-year, $16.2 million contract after the 7-foot big man reached a buyout with the Portland Trail Blazers — a bargain deal that didn’t require L.A. to part with any assets — his fit with James already sparks vastly different views around the league.
“Ayton should benefit the most out of LeBron back,” one Eastern Conference executive told ESPN, pointing out the open looks the center will receive with James, Doncic and Reaves demanding extra attention from defenses. “LeBron makes people look good. [He’ll feed Ayton] lobs and dump-offs at the rim.”
A Western Conference executive didn’t share such a sunny outlook.
“I imagine Deandre’s going to be a problem. He’s just not smart enough of a player,” he told ESPN. “And the inconsistent effort, LeBron usually has issues with, to say the least.”
With James’ returning Tuesday night against the Utah Jazz, a game in which he scored 11 points, dished out 12 assists, and showed promising chemistry with Ayton, here’s what those team and league insiders are watching for as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer reintegrates himself with the Lakers in the midst of an impressive early run by L.A.
1. Can Doncic and Reaves keep cooking?
Coach Doc Rivers’ “Ubuntu” battle cry with the 2007-08 champion Boston Celtics is still part of NBA lore, frequently referenced in league circles as the mantra of an ideal season that produced immediate results while melding future Hall of Fame talent.
Which makes Rivers, now the coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, somewhat of an authority when asked to assess the Lakers’ situation.
“It’s tough because Luka and Reaves have good chemistry now and they’ve gotten used to doing it one way, and then you bring in another guy that needs the ball and dominates the ball,” Rivers said last week.
“[Reaves is] the guy that will probably have to figure it out. The third guy is always tough. Even back in the era of the big threes, the third guy always took the hit. And he had to be the most unselfish guy of the group, and if he wasn’t, it doesn’t work.”
Reaves, to his credit, has fit well alongside all sorts of iterations of this Lakers team since signing as an undrafted free agent in 2021.
This time, though, there is major money on the line.
He turned down an $89 million extension in the offseason and could be in line for a max contract worth up to $241 million this summer.
After James’ first practice Monday, Reaves raved about his return.
“He’s, in my opinion, the greatest player to ever touch a basketball,” Reaves said of James. “His presence, his ability to lift up a team and obviously his IQ [will help us]. … It’s good to have him back.”
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Still, Reaves’ averages — career highs in points (28.3), assists (8.2) and rebounds (5.1) — are bound to drop.
“I would assume his usage will go down,” one East executive said of Reaves’ 30.2% rate, which is well above his previous best of 23.7%, set last season.
How Reaves and Doncic work themselves back in with James will set the tone for the entire team.
“What’s most important is can Austin and Luka have perspective on it?” one Lakers team source told ESPN. “If they handle themselves appropriately, it’s very easy to hold the rest of the other guys accountable when you bring LeBron back.”
James, after practice Monday, praised the pair so far. “I just love the ball movement, the dominance between Luka and AR kind of running the whole show,” he said.
One stat to monitor for Doncic and Reaves: their free throw attempts. Doncic ranks No. 1 in the NBA with 12.2 attempts per game. Reaves is No. 3, with 9.5.
Will they be able to maintain those marks — and all the benefits that come with them: the easy points for both players who hover around 80% from the line; the foul trouble for the other team; the chance for some in-game rest — with James on the ball more?
Likely not, but if the trade-off means a less-taxing game-plan — including easier 3-point looks for the pair, both of whom are shooting well-below their career percentages to start the season – it could be worth it.
Especially if it helps keep Reaves and Doncic healthy in the long run.
“It’s hard to sustain that level of stress on your body,” a West scout said of the responsibilities Reaves has shouldered while James was sidelined.
Against Utah, Doncic (37 points, including 13-of-16 from the free throw line) and Reaves (26 points including 11-of-12 from the line) kept their numbers up with James serving as a willing passer.
James had an average touch length of 2.46 seconds on Tuesday, his lowest in any game since player tracking began in 2013-14, per GeniusIQ, with his crisp ball movement fueling the Lakers’ offense to a season-high in points.
“He sees things that other people can’t,” Doncic said after the game. “So he’s here to help us all.”
2. Is LeBron what the Lakers need right now?
As successful a start to the season as it’s been for the Lakers, they are squarely average in both offense (16th) and defense (17th).
“We’ve willed our way to a lot of wins, and I think we’ve found ways in real time to walk away with one in a win column, but it wasn’t pretty or planned,” a team source told ESPN. “We want to be a process-oriented team. … And if we’re process-oriented, we’d look at our process right now with the metrics and go, ‘Man, we got to get a lot better.'”
Adding a brilliant basketball mind in James is sure to help that process.
“He’s still the smartest guy I’ve been around in terms of basketball intelligence,” a longtime West executive told ESPN.
The Lakers are also adding a big, 6-foot-9, 250-pound body.
“He brings something to this team that we don’t really have yet: that size and the force of getting to the basket,” Lakers forward Jake LaRavia told ESPN.
And James provides Lakers coach JJ Redick a completely new lineup option.
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“The ability for him to guard big — if they play him and Rui [Hachimura] and Luka, although they’re small, they’re still big as s— and then they can play Austin too, and I don’t really care who you put as the fifth guy,” a West scout told ESPN. “They could be big and skilled at pretty much every position.”
James’ outside shot has also been missed. After seven seasons in L.A., he ranks No. 1 in franchise history in 3-pointers made (2.3) and attempted (6.3) per game — two stats that are sure to boost the Lakers’ dead-last ranking in 3s made this season.
L.A. has also struggled with its accuracy from beyond the arc, shooting 33.8%, 24th in the league.
James shot 37.6% from 3 last season and a career-best 41% in 2023-24.
He went 2-for-3 from beyond the arc against Utah, passing Reggie Miller for No. 6 on the all-time 3-pointers list in the process.
3. How will the role players adjust?
If Doncic’s and Reaves’ shot diets are cut to accommodate James, it stands to reason there will be even fewer touches for everyone else.
“It’s going to be really telling if guys [are] still upset about the shot attempts if you’re winning,” a team source told ESPN. “The role players, where do you think the shots are going to come from? LeBron’s going to take 15 shots a game.”
Winning, of course, is the game’s greatest airbrush, covering up the imperfections that can otherwise fester within a team. And James’ reputation as a winner, with four championships and 10 trips to the Finals, is cemented.
He has certain expectations of his teammates in order to win, and that’s a process he embarks on every season. He’s just getting a late start, with a couple of new, young faces that figure to have major roles.
“Jake’s 24 and DA’s 26 and people could say what they want, but those guys are pretty young,” a West coach told ESPN.
LaRavia has never reached the playoffs in his first three seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings. And now?
“Immediately, when LeBron comes back, those would be the biggest games he’s ever had and he’s going to have legitimate roles in them,” a West executive told ESPN. “It’s different.”
LaRavia hit his first wing 3 in transition off a pass from James on Tuesday and finished with 16-points on 6-for-10 shooting. Ayton had 20 points on 10-for-13 shooting – including an alley-oop he finished off a pass from James.
“I was just telling him a fun fact,” Ayton said after the game. “When he threw me an alley-oop. I said, ‘That’s my second alley-oop from you. The first one was when I was in 8th grade at your camp.”
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4. How will James adapt, if he has to?
No player has played as long and as well as James has, but even he doesn’t have a personal reference point that compares to this. In the past, when he missed extended time because of injury, he was still known as the best player in the league and his teams struggled in his absence.
Now, James is not even the best player on his team, and the Lakers have managed well while he has been out.
For the first time since perhaps his rookie season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, his team’s success could depend more on him fitting in with his teammates than his teammates fitting in with him.
Redick, for his part, doesn’t see the adjustment as a problem.
“I would describe him as very adaptable,” Redick said. “Not just in my time, but he’s adapted throughout his career to the system, his teammates, what the game requires.
“The league has evolved. He’s evolved. That’s why he’s still in Year 23 and coming off of an All-NBA season in Year 22. I think he’s always been able to adapt.”
James might still play at an All-Star level, but circumstances have changed. “I mean, he has a son on the team,” a West scout told ESPN. “Looking at the roster, besides Maxi Kleber and Marcus Smart, everyone is closer in age to Bronny than they are with LeBron.”
The Lakers have one of the best backcourts in basketball, with both stars in their 20s. They have a growing defensive identity that managed to hold Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks to 34 first-half points in the finale of a five-game road trip.
Still, in order for the team to have the most success this season, James might have to reinvent himself just as much as the team has to reintegrate him.
“I can fit in with anybody,” James said after his season debut. “I don’t even understand why that was a question. What’s wrong with these people? I can ride with anybody.”
