Traditionally a forward, LeBron James could play the center position in a "Death lineup," suggested US basketball site HoopsHype on Friday. 

So far the Lakers’ core players are: LeBron James, Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Rajon Rondo, Lance Stephenson, Michael Beasley and JaVale McGee.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on The Lowe Post podcast on July 16 raised a question: Can the Lakers put James as the center? HoopsHype answered with a “yes.”

Since the Golden State Warriors started to dominate the league in 2015 with their Death lineup and the upgraded version “the Hampton Five” – over half of the rest 29 teams started to copy this mode by presenting their own small-ball squad.

HoopsHype said that though James only spent one percent of his whole career playing center, there was one season he contributed nine percent of his time on the court as center: the 2012-13 season when he and the Miami Heat won the NBA Final Champion.

According to Eric Pincus from Bleacher Report, an executive of the Lakers told him that the team was considering having James play as center. “We may not see this on day one, but the coaching staff is eager to see our version of the (Warriors’) Death Lineup with Lonzo, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, Kuzma and LeBron,” said Pincus.

Before Luke Walton became head coach of the Lakers, he worked as an assistant coach to Steve Kerr at the Warriors and did a good job leading the team. He was no stranger to a small-ball squad and has been testing own version since he came to LA.

A Death lineup requires two things: Three-point shooting and transition offense. Though the Lakers are terrible at the first, they were the best transition offense team in the past 2018-19 NBA season with the league’s most points scored in this way (23.4). About 19 percent of their possessions were transition offense plays.

Meanwhile, LeBron James was the third best transition scorer with 6.5 points per game (ppg). He will be joined by Kuzma (3.8 ppg). Ingram (3.6 ppg), Hart (2.7 ppg) and Ball (2.1 ppg). Furthermore, James ranked No.4 at transition assists with 2.2 per game, followed by Ball’s 1.7. At least in transition offense, the Lakers and James are able to help each other.

However, does that make it a good idea to push James to center in a Death lineup? The answer is probably negative.

First, it’s true that James, with his over 2.03 meters of height and 113 kilograms of weight, can play as center in today’s league. But he has never liked it or focused on it in his entire career. James leads the NBA with his outside attack on the rim and the accompanied pass thanks to his remarkable court vision. Playing as a center will restrict his play area and take away his most efficient weapon.

Second, James is already 33-years-old and will inevitably start to lose some of his strength. One of the reasons he did not like playing as center before was that he didn’t want face big men like Tim Duncan and Roy Hibbert in defense. The hand-to-hand battle in the paint area could consume him fast before James could contribute more in other parts of the court. And that was when he was at his strongest, weighing over 120 kilograms. Despite that, today’s NBA features many reduced big man roles – imagine the picture of James defending Joel Embiid, Karl-Anthony Towns, DeMarcus Cousins, LaMarcus Aldridge, Anthony Davis and other monsters under the basket.

Third, the magic of a small-ball Death lineup was already solved by solo-play on offense and continuous switch on defense, proved by the 2017-18 Western Conference Finals between the Warriors and the Houston Rockets. In such games, both three-point shooting and transition offense were stifled. The reason that Golden State won was because they had two players who could change the game with their individual ability: Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. So far the Lakers do not have anyone even close to sharing the burden with James.

The Lakers should focus more on helping Ball and Ingram with their shooting and Kuzma with his defense before presenting a Death lineup that looks more like a “Suicide squad.”