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Ranking the Los Angeles Lakers and best bench duos in the NBA

By Jason Reed

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 04: Montrezl Harrell #5 of the Los Angeles Clippers rebounds past Isaac Bonga #17 of the Los Angeles Lakers during the first half of a game at Staples Center on March 04, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 04: Montrezl Harrell #5 of the Los Angeles Clippers rebounds past Isaac Bonga #17 of the Los Angeles Lakers during the first half of a game at Staples Center on March 04, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

2. Los Angeles Clippers — Lou Williams and Serge Ibaka/Ivica Zubac

Now, there are two things that have to be figured out here. First is whether or not the Los Angeles Clippers trade Lou Williams. I do not think they are going to personally, but his name has been in the rumor mill. If he is traded, though, I would think that it would be for someone like Spencer Dinwiddie.

Second is who is going to come off the bench at the center position. Personally, I would run Ivica Zubac as the starting center with Serge Ibaka off the bench but nothing is set in stone. The Clippers could even run a bigger lineup of Ibaka and Zubac starting with Marcus Morris off the bench.

Realistically, I think we will have one of Ibaka/Zubac being the second part of this bench duo.

This is still a solid bench duo for the Los Angeles Clippers. While Clipper fans will swear up and down that Ibaka is a massive upgrade from Harrell, he really isn’t. He is a bit more versatile and is more reliable on defense but it is a marginal upgrade at best. He’s 10% better, if that than Harrell.

There is also a big problem with Williams: he cannot play defense. He is a stellar bench scorer but that defense becomes a big problem in the NBA Playoffs. If Clipper fans want to talk about how bad Harrell was defensively then they should be pulling their hair out about Williams’ defense.

Just for comparison’s sake, per Basketball-Index, Harrell posted a -0.41 defensive PIPM last season, meaning he was just under league average (zero). Williams, on the other hand, posted a -2.32. That was the 10th-worst last season.

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