Should Smart start for the Lakers? The team reporter suggests replacing Hachimura with him for a more reasonable offensive and defensive configuration.

On July 21, Beijing time, Lakers reporter Jovan Buha updated his podcast, discussing topics related to Smart. Buha believes that Smart should be included in the Lakers' starting lineup and suggests replacing Hachimura with him for a more balanced offensive and defensive arrangement. Here is Buha's analysis—

Since the Lakers confirmed the signing of Smart, there have been some debates, such as "should Reeves come off the bench" or "should Hachimura come off the bench," which inevitably leads to such discussions.

In my opinion, Hachimura should definitely come off the bench. I think people often view player positions too much from an offensive perspective, neglecting the defensive aspect. If we analyze it from a defensive standpoint, assuming you take Reeves out and put Smart in the starting lineup, the Lakers' starting five would still only have one backcourt defender. Doncic is not a backcourt defender; even if he loses weight and is in great shape, he resembles more of a wing defender, and at best, he could be considered a small forward, but defensively, he is even closer to a power forward.

Therefore, if Smart replaces Reeves, players like Doncic, James, and Hachimura are all better suited to defend power forwards, which would force one of them to guard a shooting guard, leading to various mismatches. For example, against the Cavaliers, if you have Smart defend Mitchell, it likely means Hachimura would have to guard another guard, which is a complete mismatch. The opponent would continuously run pick-and-rolls or create isolation opportunities, putting Hachimura in a worse position than before, where he would struggle against faster players.

To give another example, even against slightly weaker teams like the Kings, who would guard Lavine? Who would guard DeRozan? Who would guard Schroder? In this scenario, you would have to force James, Hachimura, or Doncic to defend guards that they simply can't handle. Hachimura already struggles defending some small forwards and even has a hard time with shooting guards, and now you want him to defend point guards in certain situations? That just doesn't make sense.

So starting Reeves is not only because he is better than Hachimura and can maintain a higher offensive level for the team, but also because this way, the defensive matchups would be more balanced—having two backcourt players and three frontcourt players is a reasonable starting lineup.

For instance, against the Cavaliers, Smart would guard Mitchell, and Reeves would guard Garland. Similarly, against the Warriors, Smart would guard Curry, while Reeves would guard Poole. In short, for teams with two solid guards, you need Reeves as the second backcourt defender.

From an offensive standpoint, I think Smart is more like a starting small forward. Strictly speaking, Doncic and Reeves are backcourt starters, followed by Smart, James, and Ayton. However, on defense, Smart can guard positions 1 to 3; sometimes he is the primary backcourt defender, with Reeves as the secondary defender; other times, he is the primary frontcourt defender, while Ayton or James takes on the role of secondary frontcourt defender, depending on the opponent's lineup and specific matchups.

However, I still think Smart is more like a wing defender. Therefore, replacing Reeves with him would not be appropriate. Reeves excels in a defensive role where he can chase opponents and guard quicker players, and for the most part, he performs well in those matchups. His real challenges come from larger, more athletic players, like Edwards, and some bigger wing players, which are the ones that trouble him. But looking at the matchup data from the past few years and previous playoff series, he often performed well against players like Murray and Curry. It’s the bigger players who have caused him more trouble.

Thus, Smart should replace Hachimura in the starting lineup. Of course, there is an issue here: Hachimura often performs better as a starter than as a bench player. He may need to adapt to a bench role, or the team might trade him at some point to let him seek opportunities with another team. However, I believe we should not force adjustments to the starting lineup just for the fifth or sixth best player on the team (regardless of where he ranks), nor should we build the lineup around such a player.

The roster configuration needs to be reasonable for the positions. The fact is, James, Doncic, and Reeves are the three best players on the team, so what positions do we need around them? We need a center, one who can attack the rim and protect the rim, and the new addition Ayton is perfect for that position. Then we also need a versatile, switchable defensive player, which is Smart.

Buha then listed the current depth chart for the Lakers—

Point Guard: Doncic, Vincent, Bronny

Shooting Guard: Reeves, Knecht

Small Forward: Smart, LaRavia, Thybulle

Power Forward: James, Hachimura, Vanderbilt

Center: Ayton, Hayes, Kleber

Do you think Smart should replace Hachimura in the starting lineup? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.