One Play: Why LeBron James at center is a game-changer for Lakers

Welcome to "One Play!" Throughout the 2021-22 NBA season, our NBA.com Staff will break down certain possessions from certain games and peel back the curtains to reveal its bigger meaning.

Today, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James takes the spotlight.

Context: LeBron James has been on quite the tear lately.

In the 16 games he's played since serving a one-game suspension, James is averaging 30.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.4 blocks per contest. He's been incredibly efficient, posting those numbers on .544/.390/.782 shooting splits.

James has 11 30-point games during that stretch, giving him 16 such games on the season, which is more than anyone else in the NBA. He's not far removed from going off for 43 points and 14 rebounds in a win over the Trail Blazers, making him the fourth oldest player in NBA history to post a 40-10 game.

Father Time is undefeated, but you wouldn't know it based on the level James continues to play.

The kicker is the Lakers won only eight of those 16 games, but they may have found something in playing James more at center.

You know what that means — to the film room!

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The play:

Breakdown: Malik Monk rebounds a missed 3-pointer from Norman Powell and gives the ball up to James immediately. James returns the favor shortly after he crosses halfcourt, giving the ball back to Monk to run a pick-and-roll from the top of the 3-point line.

The other Lakers on the court are Russell Westbrook, Avery Bradley and Stanley Johnson. Westbrook parks himself in the right corner while Bradley and Johnson overload the opposite side.

Westbrook and Johnson aren't exactly 3-point threats, but the Lakers still have decent spacing by surrounding James with four perimeter players.

James is quick to screen and roll, but he makes enough contact with Monk's defender, Tony Snell, to help Monk get downhill. That forces Larry Nance Jr., who is playing center for Portland and has the task of defending James, to slide over to protect the basket.

With Nance stepping up, Powell helps off of Westbrook in the corner to prevent James from getting an easy bucket. (You can see James motioning for an alley-oop.)

This is where things get interesting.

Unable to get a layup or sneak a pass to James underneath the basket, Monk moves the ball along to Westbrook in the right corner. Westbrook has an open look at a 3-pointer, but he turns it down, choosing to instead give the ball to James, who is now being defended by Snell in the post.

Meanwhile, both Johnson and Bradley move over a touch to make space for Monk in the corner. That's important because it forces Nance, who is now defending Monk, to make a tough decision — leave Monk in the corner to provide help at the rim or stick to Monk in the corner so that he doesn't get a clean look at a 3 if James kicks it out to him.

Nance goes with option No. 2, leading to a layup for James once he gets around Snell.

Why it matters: James is giving off some strong Magic Johnson vibes right now.

Two years ago, James logged the bulk of his minutes at point guard and led the league with 10.2 assists per game. Now, he's playing mostly center for a Lakers team that continues to be without Anthony Davis for an extended period of time because of an MCL sprain.

This isn't the first time in his career that James has played center, but we've never seen him do it to this degree. According to Cleaning The Glass, James has logged over a third (35.0 percent) of his minutes at center to this point of the season. His previous career-high? 3.0 percent in 2018-19.

James isn't even a guard or forward masquerading as a center. As Todd Whitehead of Synergy Basketball pointed out, the way in which he's generating his offence when Westbrook is on the court and Davis, Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan are on the bench is very center-like, with him posting up, cutting, rolling and attacking the offensive glass much, much more when he moves to the five.

Was intrigued by @RobMahoney's note that LeBron was playing center without AD this weekend – "cutting and rolling to the rim far more often than he typically would" – so I looked up his play type mix in different lineup combinations so far this season: https://t.co/L6kG9ncdWD pic.twitter.com/96Z4crFkUY

— Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) December 27, 2021

It speaks to how incredibly talented James is that he can not only tailor his game to whatever positions he's playing but that he can do it at a high level.

For example, only five players — Joel Embiid (9.1), Nikola Jokic (5.1), Jonas Valanciunas (4.5), Kristaps Porzingis (4.2) and Davis (3.9) — are currently averaging more points per game than James (3.5) in the post. He's been more efficient than those five players ahead of him, averaging 1.18 points per post-up possession to rank in the 91st percentile.

Weighing in at 250 pounds, James is strong enough to battle with other bigs around the basket.

That size makes him an impossible cover for guards, making every switch a potential mismatch that he will try to exploit. (This is your reminder that no one picks on mismatches quite like James.)

He's been money from midrange this season, canning 50.0 percent of his looks from that distance, many of which have been of a high degree of difficulty.

And, of course, James remains an otherworldly passer.

Additionally, James makes for a dynamic screen-setter. (He doesn't do it all that much, but he ranks in the 93rd percentile with 1.48 points per possession as the roll man this season.) He's also a smart and punishing cutter.

Westbrook's fit is still far from perfect, but he and James have had some nice two-man moments recently, both with James being the cutter...

...and Westbrook being the cutter.

Again, wins have still been hard to come by for the Lakers during this stretch despite James going supernova, but the numbers with him at center have been quite encouraging.

According to PBP Stats, the Lakers are outscoring opponents by 7.2 points per 100 possessions with James on the court and all three of Howard, Jordan and Davis on the bench. Only one other combination (James with Howard without Davis and Jordan) has been as dominant.

The Lakers have performed at a below-average level defensively when James has been on the court without another big, but they've been practically unstoppable offensively, scoring at a rate of 118.1 points per 100 possessions, which would be the best offensive rating in the league.

The Lakers need to be better in the minutes James and Davis are on the court together to have any chance of competing for a championship this season, but it appears as though James' recent run at the five will lead to some big-picture changes. Following their win over the Trail Blazers, Lakers head coach Frank Vogel made it sound like we will continue to see lineups with James at center even when Davis returns.

While that's bad news for Howard and Jordan, it could be what the Lakers need to get the most out of this roster and give them a much-needed identity.

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