Los Angeles Lakers: 3 lessons from win vs. Sacramento Kings

1. Tyson Chandler and JaVale McGee have the five spot on lock! 

I knew that Tyson Chandler would help the Lakers…

Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Reasons Tyson Chandler will be signed

The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to sign Tyson Chandler after his buyout from the Phoenix Suns. Ronald Agers probes why the LA is signing the veteran.

But, not this much. Right now, Chandler is killing it for the last two games. In 23 minutes against the Kings, Tyson Chandler had 12 rebounds for the Lakers, which includes five on the offensive end.

This is a ton of offensive rebounds for a team that did not shoot well from the field. He is one of the reasons the Lakers won the game despite shooting so poorly.

Let’s get into the defense, shall we? Remember what he did to Karl-Anthony Towns?

He made Willie Cauley-Stein look worse. Cauley-Stein was exposed as a center that has absolutely no footwork or post moves. Chandler had him so bottled up on defense that he was seen actually smiling while he okey-doked him into a traveling violation.

The Lakers defense started to take shape in the win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second half despite Derrick Rose going out of his mind knocking down threes.

It started with that strong low post defense with Chandler. Even though Chandler is still learning the nuances of the offensive and defensive schemes, he is compensating for that with competitive hard nose play and a high basketball I.Q.

One thing that the Lakers fans might need to realize about Chandler. Even though he is in his 18th year in the NBA, that might be a little misleading. Remember, Phoenix held him out for the better part of the second half of last season and he barely played this season. The man is energized by the fact that…

A. He knows how lucky he is to be out of Phoenix and that dumpster fire situation that they have and…

B. He’s on a team where he knows that he can contribute in a major way. The Lakers needs his attributes right now and he needs to be in a place where he can play and be effective. Perfect match for team and player. More important, a perfect pickup for Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka which provides help for the roster without messing up the salary cap.

He is the perfect complement to JaVale McGee, at a cheap price.

Speaking of JaVale McGee…

I remember stating something in the last post-game report on how things could work out with JaVale McGee dealing with the minutes Chandler got in crunch time…

"It’s going to be interesting to see how JaVale McGee handles the rotations going forward. McGee played well scoring 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting. However, the game was closed out with Tyson Chandler on the floor. Granted, it was the proper move as opposed to Rondo, but this needs to be watched, JaVale has done everything the Lakers has asked of him and more."

He’s going to be fine folks. The rotation between JaVale and Tyson is one less thing that Luke Walton has to worry about. Watch this play here…

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1061457572023005184

This is the play that will be on highlight screens. LeBron James loses Iman Shumpert using a Lonzo Ball pick and receives the pass from Ingram for a back baseline layup…but this play does not even happen if JaVale McGee does not give them the extra possession prior…

Oh, he plays offense too…

The Lakers have a lethal pick and roll offense with McGee…

In the first of these two possessions, JaVale sets the pick on De’Aaron Fox for Lonzo Ball, which frees him to drive to the basket. McGee does not just stand and watch, he follows Ball to the rim and provides a lane to get the pass for the dunk.

The second possession shows Kyle Kuzma drive to the paint to break down the defense. JaVale, again, does what a big man should and rolls to the basket for a huge slam and a timeout for Sacramento!

Finally, watch what he does here…

He gets the Lakers started on the fast break with a block. He has the presence of mind to direct the block to LeBron James who passes the ball up quickly to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for the athletic layup. Press play!