Los Angeles Lakers: Buy or sell three early season trends

Team Defense

Last year, the Los Angeles Lakers featured two defensive-minded centers in JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard.

The Purple and Gold lost Howard in bizarre fashion during free agency to the Philadelphia 76ers and traded McGee to the Cavaliers.

The Lakers replaced JaVale in the starting lineup with Marc Gasol, the 2013 Defensive Player of the Year. “Big Burrito” used to be one of the premier interior defenders in the league, but those days are long gone. Now, the soon to be 36-year-old is known for his passing ability and three-point stroke.

At the same time, the Lakers brought in Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell to supplant Howard in the Lakers reserve unit. At 6’7,” Harrell is a tremendous small-ball offensive weapon, but too short to bother most centers on defense.

Rob Pelinka subtracted two gifted defenders and brought in two net-negative defenders, leaving many fans jittery about the Lakers’ ability to protect the rim.

Four games into the season, the Lakers have looked fine on the less glamorous side of the ball. The Purple and Gold are ranked tenth in defensive rating and 7th as a team in blocks per game, despite playing The Clippers, Mavericks, Timberwolves, and Trailblazers, four of the best offensive squads in the league.

Interestingly, the Lakers are protecting the rim at a high level, even though their best interior defender, Anthony Davis, hasn’t registered a single block yet. Kyle Kuzma, Markieff Morris, and Marc Gasol have picked up the slack, an excellent sign for the Lakers’ continued success on defense.

Frank Vogel is a defensive wizard from the sidelines, and LeBron James and Anthony Davis (despite his bagel in the block column) are still fully engaged on the less glamorous side of the ball.

We also have to buy the Los Angeles Lakers’ team defense.

The Purple and Gold might have lost two athletic shot-blocking centers, but this group will still finish inside the top-10 in defensive rating during the 2021 season.