Player Grades: Lakers vs. Timberwolves

Grading every Lakers player’s performance from the team’s 109-80 loss to the Wolves.

There has never been a more schedule loss for the Lakers than Monday’s against the Wolves.

On top of the Lakers being shorthanded without Austin Reaves — among a host of others — for the second game running and on top of it being the second night of a back-to-back, it was the fifth game in seven nights as well. And four of those games were on the road with a funky travel schedule around the holidays.

You could have bet your house on the Lakers losing on Monday, honestly.

There were aspects of the game that might be a bit worrying moving forward. But the Lakers mainly just looked exhausted with no legs and nothing left in the energy tank to summon and no one left on the bench to give them a spark.

So, let’s dive into the loss. As always, grades are based on expectations for each player. A “B” grade represents the average performance for that player.

Rui Hachimura

29 minutes, 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 4-5 FG, 0-1 3PT, 2-2 FT, -11

It’s going to be hard to parse through individual performances in a game that bad, but I did think Rui had a solid showing. He was one of the few people it felt like was actively attacking and finishing at the rim.

Grade: B

LeBron James

31 minutes, 10 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4-16 FG, 0-4 3PT, 2-4 FT, -28

To the point of there being a few things to take from this game, I think chief among them is LeBron can not play 82 games. Or at least he shouldn’t.

His legs are clearly impacted by travel and a lack of a full offseason and a multitude of things and it’s impacting his jumper and potentially his decision-making, too. As much as he may want to play 82 games, he’s of little use to the Lakers in games where he performs like this and will be of even less use come the playoffs in the spring.

It’s time for he and Redick to sit down and hash out a more realistic plan.

Grade: F

Anthony Davis

33 minutes, 12 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block, 4-14 FG, 0-2 3PT, 4-4 FT, -9

Monday was one of the few times in memory that Rudy Gobert got the better of Anthony Davis. I have to say, I don’t like it!

If anyone has earned some good grace, it’s AD. He also had the best plus/minus of any starter, but that’s irrelevant when it’s a -9.

Grade: D

Dalton Knecht

28 minutes, 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3-8 FG, 0-5 3PT, 0-2 FT, -13

If I was making a guess, it would be that Dalton Knecht is running into a wall now after going through his first five-game-in-seven-day stretch. In this back-to-back, he shot 5-18 from the field and 1-10 from the 3-point line, and most of them weren’t bad looks.

Go kick his feet up in Miami on Tuesday and come out strong against the Heat.

Grade: D-

D’Angelo Russell

34 minutes, 20 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 8-12 FG, 4-5 3PT, -15

If you’re looking for a silver lining from this win, it’s that this was the most D’Lo has looked like his 2023-24 self all season. It was easily his best shooting game of the season and he looked like one of the only people with legs under him, which makes sense since he sat out on Sunday.

Grade: A-

Max Christie

22 minutes, 5 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2-9 FG, 1-7 3PT, -7

After a positive showing on Sunday, Christie took a step back on Monday.

He’s another player experiencing a stretch like this as a rotation player for the first time and as much as fans may want to point out he’s a young player with young legs, that doesn’t mean he’s any more used to playing those types of minutes over a week.

But also, this was still a bad game.

Grade: D-

Gabe Vincent

22 minutes, 5 points, 1 rebound, 2 steals, 2-5 FG, 1-4 3PT, -20

Well, so much for building off Sunday’s performance. He, in fact, did not go supernova again.

I think there might have been an argument for keeping him in the starting lineup in this one, but he was always eventually going to go back to the bench and would have to translate that success back to his regular role. He certainly did not do that on Monday.

Grade: D

Cam Reddish

11 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 0-1 FG, 2-2 FT, -14

I’m at the same spot with Reddish as I am with Vincent. Neither should be playing big minutes, if at all. Both should probably be giving minutes to younger players, like a healthy Quincy Olivari. And when the Lakers get fully healthy themselves, neither should be in the rotation.

Grade: F

Armel Traore

15 minutes, 4 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 2-4 FG, 0-1 3PT, -20

I think there could be a role for Traore on the team as a big man you use if you really need an energy spark. But even as he brought that on Monday, it mattered little as the Lakers just had nothing left to give.

Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if Traore sees more minutes moving forward.

Grade: B-

Christian Koloko, Maxwell Lewis

Both only featured in garbage time and for eight minutes apiece. Neither are getting a grade tonight.

JJ Redick

I’m not really sure what to make of this game from a coaching perspective. I put a lot of the blame for this loss on the schedule and a situation out of the Lakers control. I’m not sure there was any one JJ could have schemed into a win on this one.

Grade: B

Monday’s inactives: Jarred Vanderbilt, Quincy Olivari, Christian Wood, Austin Reaves, Jaxson Hayes, Bronny James, Jalen Hood-Schifino

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.