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Los Angeles Lakers: Can Rajon Rondo, DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis co-exist?

By Ronald Agers

NEW ORLEANS, LA - OCTOBER 03: Rajon Rondo #9 of the New Orleans Pelicans talks to DeMarcus Cousins #0 and Anthony Davis #23 during a preseason game against the Chicago Bulls at the Smoothie King Center on October 3, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. 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 Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - OCTOBER 03: Rajon Rondo #9 of the New Orleans Pelicans talks to DeMarcus Cousins #0 and Anthony Davis #23 during a preseason game against the Chicago Bulls at the Smoothie King Center on October 3, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. 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 Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Chris Elise/NBAE via Getty Images)
(Photo by Chris Elise/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Pels had a losing record with bad defense with these three. Effect on the Lakers?

David Grubb:

"I don’t think people understand just how dramatic the change for the Pelicans was once DeMarcus went down in 2017-18. The Pelicans were 27-21 with a +/- of 0.4 on Jan 26., when he tore his Achilles. They were 22nd in DRTG and individually, Cousins ranked 28th among centers in Defensive Real +/-. The Pelicans hardly noticed the difference whether he was on the court or off of it, he just didn’t make an impact other than on the box score. Over the final 34 games, the Pels went 21-13 and ranked sixth in the NBA defensively with a 105.8 DRTG. When Cousins went down, the Pelicans offense wasn’t as dynamic, but it wasn’t leaking so profusely on the defensive end, which made up for it."

Pelicans top five before injury:

Player                            ORTG  DRTG
Anthony Davis            109.4 104.7
Jrue Holiday                 110.0 105.6
Rajon Rondo                109.1 112.8
DeMarcus Cousins     108.5 106.6
E’Twaun Moore           108.7 108.8

Pelicans top five after injury:

Player                             ORTG  DRTG
Anthony Davis             109.1  103.8
Jrue Holiday                  108.4  102.9
Rajon Rondo                 106.0  101.2
Nikola Mirotic                  108.4  104.7
E’Twaun Moore            108.7  102.0

"As you can see, there was a slight offensive down tick, but there was tremendous defensive improvement. Rondo went from a negative contributor to a major positive. But now you’re talking about a Cousins, two years and two leg injuries later, and a 33 year old Rondo who finished 77th defensively among point guards last season. So betting on them to help the Lakers stop anybody is probably unwise."

Is anyone convinced yet?

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