Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton has announced he will be taking advantage of a deep rotation in the 2018/19 season. This is mainly to control LeBron James’ minutes in order to keep the 33-year-old fit throughout the season.
“We want to play fast. And to achieve that, we have to rotate a lot,” Walton said to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin shortly before the Lakers’ star of the season against Portland (Fr., 4:30 a.m. on DAZN). “So we’re gonna put a lot of guys on the field.”
This deep rotation should also help LeBron James by reducing his playing time and save the King forces. “We still have it for the next four years,” Walton said about the long-term contract LeBron signed in Hollywood this summer.
“We want to make sure that towards the end of the season we will not only be able to play our best game on the pitch, but also be fresh,” Walton said. “This is our goal. We’re on a journey and it’s not just over a year.”
James led the league in 2017/18 in terms of time. On average, the King, still in the Cavaliers’ jersey at the time, stood 36.9 minutes per game on the floor. He scored 27.5 points, 9.1 assists and 8.6 rebounds.