Los Angeles Lakers: Areas in which the Lakers key role players can improve

Avery Bradley – Playmaking

Avery Bradley has been reinvigorated during his time with the Lakers. Having lost a significant amount of weight and getting his focus purely on playing winning basketball, he has been trying extremely hard on the defensive end of the floor.

He has exceeded much of Lakers Nation’s expectations this season with his level of play. Bradley has seen a lot of his time come at the point guard position.

While Bradley is a shooting guard by trade, moving him to point guard has reaped rewards for the purple and gold. With his agility and ability to stay in front of his man, Bradley has been able to give his opposing number troubles on a nightly basis.

While his ability to lock up opposing players is good and he is shooting the ball well from the 3-point line, one area in which Bradley has lacked is his playmaking.

While playmaking was never a strength of his game, having the ability to quarterback the offense is sometimes required of a point guard, even when you have LeBron James on the floor. Bradley seems to be a willing passer. His basketball IQ is high, meaning that if he focused on this area of the game more he should be able to make strides in that department.

If Avery Bradley can make that extra pass every so often, hit a player cutting to the rim or initiate the pick and roll with one of the bigs every so often, it would go a long way in helping the Lakers become an even better team.

When it comes to the playoffs, it will be critically important to have a 2nd playmaker on the floor with LeBron James. If Bradley can hit 3’s, defend his man and dish out a few assists then we can expect the Lakers to have a strong playoff run.