The Los Angeles Lakers’ floor spacing opens up completely
One area that was exposed by the Miami Heat in the NBA finals was the Laker’s struggles at making shots if they couldn’t get good positioning down low.
The likes of Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee struggled during the playoffs at times when teams swarmed the paint.
The Lakers have shooters on the roster, but not many elite shooters.
For his size and position, LaMarcus Aldridge is an exceptional shooter.
The lack of respect that Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee got on the perimeter would not be allowed whilst Aldridge is on the floor.
He is way too consistent from deep for teams not to give him respect from outside.
This in turn gives the likes of Anthony Davis and LeBron James even more room to get their way to the basket and punish teams on a nightly basis.
Aldridge can also step in and allow Davis to cook from the outside also.
Adding Aldridge is a move in the right direction for the purple and gold not just from a personnel point of view, but it also allows the Lakers to get significantly more versatile.
Aldridge simply adds an extra dimension to the Lakers.
Many can say that the big man rotation is one of the purple and gold’s strongest areas and to a certain extent, they wouldn’t be wrong but the lack of floor spacing that JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard provided this past season has hindered the Lakers to a certain extent.
Markieff Morris or Anthony Davis playing at center has allowed the Lakers to counteract this to a certain extent, but having a player who can consistently play inside out in the starting line-up who also allows AD to play his favored power forward position would be beneficial.
Aldridge does this and then some.
Having Aldridge step out to the 3-point line is the perfect counter to doubling AD in the post. AD gets doubled and he hits Aldridge wide open from 3 and splash!
The same thing goes with Aldridge in the post, he is so skilled that if you don’t put pressure on him, he will get shot after shot in the paint and make them at a consistent rate. Swing the ball out to AD and he is more than capable of draining shots from 3, having improved leaps and bounds this season from behind the arc.
Keeping the opposition guessing is the key to winning games, becoming predictable can be a killer and the Lakers have shown this season that they adapt when the time calls for it.
Adding Aldridge gives Coach Frank Vogel another option to rely upon when he needs to change things up.
If the Lakers can add further depth to the squad via free agency or even by trade and this Lakers team will be a serious problem for any team in the NBA.