Power forward
2018-2019 PF Depth Chart: Kyle Kuzma, Michael Beasley, Mike Muscala
2019-2020 PF Depth Chart: Anthony Davis, Kyle Kuzma, Jared Dudley
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the Lakers improved at the power forward position. The trade for Anthony Davis has catapulted this team to a Finals contender and has finally given LeBron James the co-star he has been clamoring for since he first put on the purple and gold.
Last season the team relied on Kyle Kuzma, Michael Beasley, and Mike Muscala to fill out the power forward position and needless to say, that didn’t work out so well.
Both Beasley and Muscala lacked any outside shooting ability, and Beasley’s one definable trait, isolation scoring, was actually a detriment to the team as he was a woefully inefficient scorer. Kuzma was by no means a negative player but had a down year to a laundry list of team-related issues.
This year’s power forward rotation is looking much better, to say the least. With Anthony Davis slotting in as the starter, this would ostensibly move Kyle Kuzma to the bench, where I expect him to thrive in a Lou Williams type role, scoring against weaker second units, and being part of the closing lineup. Jared Dudley also provides a nice stop-gap at the position and will help soak up some minutes when needed.
In addition to Kuzma, Davis, and Dudley, LeBron James will also spend his fair share of minutes at the four when the team opts to go small.
Beyond that, there isn’t much else to say about how better the Lakers got at the power forward position. Last season they didn’t have Anthony Davis, this season they do. That alone makes the power forward position better than last year’s.