Los Angeles Lakers: 3 ways Dion Waiters can help during the playoffs

2. Splitting the defense

There are areas in which the Los Angeles Lakers have truly shined this season. They are an excellent passing team, with LeBron James leading the way in assists. They have excellent blocked shot numbers with Anthony Davis, JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard posting great numbers, and they are an ever-improving 3-point shooting team.

One area the purple and gold do not excel is in splitting the defense and collapsing it in on top of itself. This, when done correctly, can force the opposing defenders to converge on the player attacking the rim and allows for the player to zip the ball out to an open man for an easy shot attempt.

Waiters is especially adept at shredding the defense and getting point on drives to the basket. This could help the Lakers largely as he will be able to collapse the defense in on him and kick the ball out to the wing to an open player capable of making a 3-point shot.

This is actually a strength of Waiters’ game. Using his body to burst his way to the rim and either scoring the ball or throwing it out to an open man.

This could be a huge plus for the Lakers if they were to use it correctly. With the Lakers having numerous players capable of making a 3-point shot, having Waiters do his thing could lead to an uptick in scoring not just from Waiters but across the board for all players on the roster.

With Waiters cutting to the rim, the opposing center shifting over to try and block his path, Waiters’ own man collapsing in to try and pick up his defensive assignment, this automatically takes two players out of the equation leaving at the very least one man open.

With players like KCP, Kuzma, Markieff Morris and Alex Caruso all capable of shooting the 3-ball, this gives the Lakers a must needed uptick in their second unit play, which in turn allows the likes of Anthony Davis and LeBron James to play fewer minutes during games.

Win-win situation.