The Los Angeles Lakers‘ chances of being very competitive this season will largely hinge on their ability to stop opponents on the defensive end. As it currently stands, their roster lacks plus defenders, and the only two definite plus defenders it has — Marcus Smart and Jarred Vanderbilt — can be liabilities on the offensive end.
Their powerful big three of LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves don’t exactly stand out defensively. That, along with the lack of two-way players elsewhere on the roster, is the one thing Bleacher Report writer Zach Buckley identified that could derail the season for the Lakers.
“Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves have never been mistaken for super-stingy stoppers. And with LeBron James’ 41st birthday fast approaching, he might have to go into energy-conservation mode on the defensive end more often than not.
“Maybe if the Lakers were loaded with lockdown defenders around them, they could be solid stoppers. Maybe. Since they’re far from that, it’s all too easy to worry about how generous this defense might be. L.A. could win a lot of nightly races to 120-plus points, but that hardly feels like a successful championship formula.”
In all likelihood, a trade or two by midseason will be needed to upgrade this roster into the upper echelon of the NBA. The best Lakers fans can hope for until then, if such a trade happens, is that new starting center Deandre Ayton starts to take his defensive responsibilities very seriously. So far in the preseason, he has done exactly that.
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Smart, even though he isn’t the player he was a few years ago, has the ability to make a significant impact, and not just in terms of defense. Other than that, it will take improvements from players such as Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent, Jake LaRavia and Dalton Knecht to get the Purple and Gold to the next level.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Analyst gives a warning about the Lakers’ defense this season