It seems like nothing can go wrong with the Los Angeles Lakers at this point, starting with the Dallas Mavericks handing them a generational superstar.

Luka Doncic’s trade to the LA Lakers has started going right quicker than anyone would have thought, with the superstar pairing alongside LeBron James powering a surge up the standings.

The Lakers sit pretty at second position in the West and will be a genuine threat in the playoffs with two bonafide clutch performers in Luka Doncic and LeBron James.

However, their growth hasn’t been entirely down to Doncic’s arrival. It’s been a collective effort which has seen role players step up, some emerge as stars and JJ Redick holding it all together.

Jarred Vanderbilt has now given flowers to a young player at the Lakers who’s found his groove.

Jarred Vanderbilt all praise for LA Lakers role player

Lost amidst the brilliance of Doncic has been Austin Reaves’ ascent to a genuine third option, or Vanderbilt’s return from injury and picking up where he left off.

Jaxson Hayes and Rui Hachimura have given them interior bounce and gone some way towards scratching back defensive solidity they lost with Anthony Davis.

Dalton Knecht has left behind his failed trade to get his head down and become one of JJ Redick’s favourites.

But a player flying completely under the radar is Trey Jemison, the center on a two-way contract with the Lakers who’s suddenly found a “big role” on the team after being cut earlier this year.

Vanderbilt said about Jemison: “It’s super important man. Trey being a young player, that’s a big role for him. Being our enforcer, being our big guy.”

Trey Jemison gives LA Lakers what nobody else does

By trading Davis, Lakers became a team that had plenty of players with size but no outstanding “big” in a traditional sense, leaving them vulnerable on the interior.

Redick countered that issue by implementing an aggressive perimeter defense to direct scorers away from the rim, but the importance of a traditional big man remains.

In Jemison, they’ve got a 6’11” prospect who, in Vanderbilt’s own words, has become an “enforcer” for the team, proving himself to be a better bet than Lakers’ signing Alex Len for the same reason.

Jemison has earned the trust of Doncic and more, with Redick also praising him for providing something that the Lakers lacked before him.

In a team of reliable superstars, the ceiling is decided by how much their role players step up in crunch moments, which leaves the superstars free and fresh to make an impact when it matters.

Jemison is quickly proving himself very capable of being that man for the Lakers.