1. Danny Green
Avery Bradley might have been the point guard in the backcourt alongside Danny Green in the starting line up, and 837 of Bradley’s 1186 minutes were played with Green on the floor this season. But Bradley also got a lot of his minutes at the shooting guard position with Green off the floor as well, and even when he was the designated point guard on defense, he was rarely the one to initiate the offense.
For most of his career, Bradley has primarily been a shooting guard and Danny Green can easily play more minutes to help shoulder his absence at that position. Green can even be used in Bradley’s role in the starting line up at the one, defending point guards and sliding off-ball on offense.
Anyone who has watched NBA basketball for the last decade knows that more playoff minutes for Danny Green is never a bad thing. He was apart of Toronto’s run to the Championship last season, and he was an even bigger part of the San Antonio Spurs’ 2014 title season.
His postseason accomplishments speak for themselves, and his experience in those situations are why Lakers fans were so excited he signed as a free agent this offseason. The Lakers made him their first free-agent signing because of his ability to defend both guard spots, and more importantly hit open 3-pointers.
He has had a somewhat disappointing season shooting wise, but if the Lakers want to get the most out of him in the playoffs, they were going to need to increase his minutes with or without Bradley. Green only scored more than 20 points in games where he played more than 30 minutes this season, and they need him to score more than his 8.2 average in the playoffs.
But on defense this season he has been solid, he has been able to get into the passing lanes more than Bradley this season, his average of 1.2 steals is just a little better than Bradley’s. Also when Green is not on the floor the Lakers net rating takes a dive, the only player that makes the Lakers net rating worse when they sit is LeBron James.
Even if he has not had one of his best seasons statistically this season, it is still obvious looking at certain advanced stats and judging by the eye test that the Lakers are better with Green on the floor. With Avery Bradley opting to sit out for good reasons, now the Lakers will have him on the court even more often.