Los Angeles Lakers: 5 reasons why they will surprise the league
2. They will have an improved defense
One of the Lakers’ main goals last season was to improve on the defensive side of the ball and they accomplished it. In the 2016-17 season, the Lakers finished as one of the worst teams in the league defensively, letting opponents shoot over 48 percent from the field. In 2017-18 they improved that percentage a ton, and let their opponents shoot only 45 percent, which was good enough to finish 10th best in the league in that category.
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With their new pieces they signed in the offseason, and retaining their best wing defender Kentavious Caldwell-Pope they can be even better on defense next season.
Besides Beasley, all of their free agent acquisitions are plus defenders and can defend multiple spots on the court. The Lakers defense involves a ton of switching on to players of different positions, and the guys they added like Rondo and Stephenson will fit well with that defensive philosophy.
One lineup that could accomplish the switch everything defense would be a small ball line up that features LeBron at the center position. Their version of the Warriors line up of death would include Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, and James, players that are all over 6’5″ and are long defenders.
They might struggle defending teams on the interior with LeBron guarding the paint, but they could match up really well with the top teams that are primarily perimeter oriented.