Power Forward: Jared Dudley
While Kyle Kuzma would have been the obvious choice at this position, the Los Angeles Lakers find themselves a bit thin at the small forward position, causing them to redirect Kuzma’s talents.
Kyle Kuzma will still see a lot of minutes at both the small forward and power forward positions. However, whilst Kuz is playing the 3, Jared Dudley will be getting minutes at the 4.
While Jared Dudley isn’t exactly an elite scorer, defender or rebounder, he does add an extra veteran presence to the 2nd unit. While Dudley isn’t the greatest player in the world, he does have numerous attributes that make him of value.
Dudley is a career 39.2% 3-point shooter, a significant upgrade over the vast majority of players the Lakers had on their roster last season.
While Dudley isn’t a stellar defender, he is a gritty and annoying defender who seems to get under the skin of opposing teams players very easily. If he can stay in front of his man, and cause him to make mistakes then the Lakers will have a solid asset in Dudley.
Don’t expect Dudley to get a huge amount of minutes this year as LeBron, Kuzma, and AD can fill in at this spot, however hopefully when called upon, Dudley can rise to the occasion.