Lakers Laying the Foundation: Jabari Brown

Jabari Brown is yet another interesting, young player that the Lakers could use going forward into the future without Kobe Bryant

Early in the season, the Lakers made the mistake of letting multiple players who had potential value, opting instead to keep players like Metta World Peace and Marcelo Huertas, players who have proven to have almost no value whatsoever. Jabari Brown is one of the players the Lakers should never have let go and should do their best to bring back for next season.

As a young player with solid potential, Brown fits the bill of a Laying the Foundation player perfectly. However, his circumstances are slightly different than most of the other players in this series, as Brown was released before the season following a fairly strong rookie showing.

Ironically, his release was due in large part to Byron Scott‘s habitual insistence on playing his players out of position, which led to the shooting guard playing almost exclusively at the point in the preseason.

While Jabari Brown struggled, predictably, to play a position that was not only foreign to him but also completely unnecessary for him to play, his rookie season was definitely strong enough to warrant a second stint in the NBA. In fact, Brown could actually fill several gaping holes on the Lakers current roster.

Incredibly, Brown’s 37 percent three point accuracy would rank number one on the current Lakers team, just ahead of improved shooter, Jordan Clarkson. Brown was able to post those numbers as a rookie, so it’s safe to assume his efficiency would only increase as he gained experience.

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A shooter like Jabari Brown would fill a large need for the Lakers, a team which allows Kobe Bryant and Lou Williams almost 12 three point attempts per game, a duo who is shooting a respective 27 and 34 percent from behind the arc.

For reference, Jabari Brown was considerably more efficient across the board as a rookie than current Laker Lou Williams has been this year and seeing how they play similar roles, it is an important comparison to make.

Shooting slightly better than Williams from the field, on top of the aforementioned three percent disparity from the three-point line, makes Brown an intriguing option in a future sixth-man role.

The Lakers have also struggled this season to build anything even resembling team chemistry. Adding Jabari Brown could have an immediate effect in this area. Despite sometimes suffering from tunnel vision, he was far less disruptive to the team’s rhythm than ball-stoppers like Williams and Young have proven to be.

Having played with Clarkson in college, and several of the other Lakers last season, his addition could help the team fit together more cleanly.

One area where this lack of chemistry has been painfully evident is in transition, where the Lakers routinely blow easy looks through poor communication and timing. Clarkson and Brown proved to be a dangerous duo in transition last year, and putting the two of them back together could improve that phase of the Lakers attack considerably.

With both Clarkson and Brown being impressive athletes and finishers who are willing to get out and run, Brown’s return could help the Lakers get more easy buckets, and avoid Byron Scott’s painfully ineffective half-court offense as much as possible.

Although Brown was never considered a lock-down defender, he put in consistent effort on that end of the floor, which would represent a rarity on this year’s team. His physical and athletic attributes are solid enough to suggest that he could eventually become a positive on both sides of the ball, making him all the more valuable.