Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Weaknesses heading into 2017-18 regular season

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 31: Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers talks with referee Ed Malloy #14 during the game against the Denver Nuggets at Staples Center on January 31, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Lakers won 120-116. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 31: Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers talks with referee Ed Malloy #14 during the game against the Denver Nuggets at Staples Center on January 31, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. Lakers won 120-116. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Weaknesses heading into 2017-18 regular season
SAN ANTONIO,TX – JANUARY 12: Julius Randle #30 of the Los Angeles Lakers fights Patty Mills #24 of the San Antonio Spurs for rebound position at AT&T Center on January 12, 2017 in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that , by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images) /

Rebounding

The Lakers biggest move this offseason was trading for Brook Lopez. It cost them one of their young building blocks, but it provides the Lakers with a ton of flexibility cap wise moving forward. They rid themselves of Timofey Mozgov’s albatross of a contract, while Lopez’s contract is expiring. In the process, they also weakened their rebounding.

Last season the Lakers had the 21st ranked rebounding differential in the NBA at -0.9. The 44.4 rebounds allowed per game ranked tied for 22nd. Their 43.5 rebounds per game ranked 17th. This is a number that may not improve with Lopez as the starting center.

Despite standing 7-feet tall, Lopez is not a great rebounder. He averaged only 5.4 rebounds per game last season. That would have put him third on the Lakers, but only because he played more minutes than last season’s centers Tarik Black and Mozgov.

Lopez had worse rebounding percentages than both of those players, registering a 9.6 percent compared to 17.2 for Black and 13.1 for Mozgov. Julius Randle and Larry Nance Jr., the two best rebounders for the Lakers last season on a per game basis, had rebounding percentages of 16.3 and 14.0 respectively.

Once again, the Lakers will be relying on Randle and Nance Jr. to carry the rebounding load. Lopez averages 7.1 rebounds per game in his career, but with his game becoming more perimeter oriented it would not be shocking to see him average fewer than that per game once again.