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Los Angeles Lakers: 3 players that need to play better and fast

By Jason Reed

SAN ANTONIO, TX - JANUARY 1: Dejounte Murray #5 of the San Antonio Spurs and Dennis Schroder #17 of the Los Angeles Lakers dive for a loose ball during second half action at AT&T Center on January 1 , 2021 in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that , by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images)
SAN ANTONIO, TX - JANUARY 1: Dejounte Murray #5 of the San Antonio Spurs and Dennis Schroder #17 of the Los Angeles Lakers dive for a loose ball during second half action at AT&T Center on January 1 , 2021 in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that , by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

2. Marc Gasol

This is an interesting one as Marc Gasol is getting up there in age and we cannot expect him to contribute that much to the Los Angeles Lakers in his limited playing time. However, when Gasol was touted as a huge improvement at the center position for the Lakers, we would like to see more out of him.

Gasol has been just fine defensively, which should not be any surprise. Gasol has the best defensive rating on the team as well as the second-best DBPM. That alone makes it feel like it is a mistake including him on this list, but he has to be better offensively.

Again, we cannot expect Gasol to be the 15-20 points a night guy he used to be or even the 10-13 points a night guy he was just recently in Toronto. We can expect him to not be such a negative on the offensive side of the ball, though.

Gasol ranks last in OBPM and has the highest turnover percentage on the team. His three-point shot has taken a step back and he is somehow only averaging 2.8 shots per game.

If the Lakers are going to get such little offensive output out of Gasol then they need to do what we have been saying for a month now and go get another traditional center that can come off the bench, provide depth in that area and provide some offense as well.

Montrezl Harrell is not a true five and that shows defensively, especially in crunch time. They need more depth, they need that veteran 1-2 punch at the position that they had last season to get them through the regular season because I do not think he is going to get much better offensively.

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