Player Grades: Lakers vs. Kings

Grading every Lakers player’s performance from the team’s 120-107 loss to the Kings.

The latest Lakers loss to the Kings went like the other three this season. Domantas Sabonis dominated, the Lakers struggled offensively and every Kings guard did whatever they wanted.

Different game, same result.

If anything, the Lakers' performance today was even worse than their previous defeats, so why don't we rip the band-aid off and expose the scars?

Let's grade the loss. As always, grades are based on expectations for each player. A "B" grade represents the average performance for that player.

D'Angelo Russell

33 minutes, 6 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 block, 2-9 FG, 1-4 3PT, 1-2 FT, -4

If public humiliation really does mold Russell, then I can't wait to see what he becomes on Saturday against the Warriors. It was bad timing, but he had his worst game on the same day where a story about communication issues with Ham during the playoffs last year was released.

Now that's outside noise and I'm sure it wasn't on his mind while he was shooting in Sacramento, but the optics were awful. His fans looked like clowns and the team was the laughingstock of the NBA as Russell air-balled open threes, looked lost offensively and worse on defense.

There is nowhere to go but up, as this is as bad as Russell has looked since, well, the Western Conference Finals.

Grade: F

Anthony Davis

41 minutes, 22 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 7-18 FG, 1-2 3PT, 7-8 FT, -8

Oh, the Davis critics are salivating tonight. This is the kind of boxscore they eat off. It's another bad night against an elite big in the West. Now Davis is 0-10 in games played against Sabonis dating back to his New Orleans Pelicans days.

He couldn't get to the basket and when he did, he stumbled to the floor, heaving up runners at the rim.

I don't believe Davis shrinks against the league's best bigs every time, but at this point, it's a hypothesis that needs more data to be supported. The numbers say he can't do anything against Sabonis, Joel Embiid, or Nikola Jokić.

Grade: D-

LeBron James

40 minutes, 18 points, 13 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals, 6-16 FG, 2-8 3PT, 4-6 FT, -10

Where was Bron during the first half? He had zero points in the first and just six at the break. Yeah, he picked it up later and had some strong finishes in the fourth, but his performance was lukewarm.

Sure, he's dealing with an ankle injury, but if this is what he can give, then it's not going to result in the Lakers winning basketball games.

Grade: D

Rui Hachimura

36 minutes, 20 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 9-11 FG, 2-3 3PT, -6

Thanks to Hachimura, the Lakers stayed in this game.

He was magnificent from the jump, scoring 17 points in the first half alone. He disappeared offensively in the second half, but that was more due to other players trying to get aggressive and taking more shots. With 20 points and going 9-11 from the field, Hachimura did everything he could to help this team win.

Grade: A

Austin Reaves

37 minutes, 28 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 10-17 FG, 7-12 3PT, 1-2 FT, -2

Reaves was cooking on Wednesday. He had 19 points by halftime and ended the night with 28 points, a team-high.

Reaves leading the Lakers in scoring isn't a recipe for success when you have Bron and AD on your team, but they didn't show up right, so Reaves was right there with Hachimura, trying to keep the Lakers in the game.

Defensively, he struggled, but it's hard to complain, given everything he gave you offensively.

Grade: B+

Spencer Dinwiddie

20 minutes, 1 assist, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 0-2 FG, -9

Dinwiddie gave you a good defensive effort but only took a couple of shots and came up with nothing offensively. Playing 20 minutes, you need a little more from Dinwiddie. He wasn't the biggest problem with the Lakers tonight, but he wasn't enough of the solution.

Grade: C-

Max Christie

10 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1-2 FG, 0-1 3PT, -8

A meh game from Max. He hasn't looked great the last couple of games and Wednesday was more of the same. His game was as enjoyable as plain white rice. There were not many defensive highlights and even fewer offensive ones. If he keeps playing like this, he won't be playing at all.

Grade: C-

Taurean Prince

13 minutes, 7 points, 1 rebound, 2 steals, 2-2 FG, 1-1 3PT, 2-2 FT, -13

I have good news and bad news when it comes to Prince. The good news is his minutes keep shrinking; the bad news is he still is frustrating to watch during those minutes. He's not giving you enough defensively but is still getting some run because the other options might be worse.

I'll be very curious next year to see where Prince plays, what team he plays for and if he even plays.

Grade: D

Jaxson Hayes

7 minutes, 4 points, 1 rebound, 1-1 FG, 2-2 FT, -5

Just two brief shifts from Hayes agaisnt the Kings, so I debated not giving him a grade as it seemed borderline unfair. However, I was underwhelmed by his play and didn't think an extra shift would change that much.

This game is the kind Hayes needs to play better in so Ham feels comfortable using him. Now, some of that is on Ham, but he doesn't trust him because of what he does when he is on the floor.

Grade: D

Skylar Mays, Harry Giles III and Maxwell Lewis

All three played in the final minute of the game and did nothing. No grade.

Darvin Ham

Time is a flat circle.

How many more times will I hear Ham speaking of 'next play mentality' or praise the talent of the opposing team? I can't imagine what the players think if it's grown tired on me.

I'm not sure what else Ham can do, but insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting the same result. Try bigger lineups, give Max more leash, don't play Prince at all, switch something, anything up.

Grade: C

Wednesday's inactives: Jarred Vanderbilt, Colin Castleton, Gabe Vincent, Cam Reddish, Christian Wood, Jalen Hood-Schifino

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.