With the Los Angeles Lakers being owners of the second-best record in the NBA, the team’s weaknesses are few and far between. However, if you were to nitpick, outside of veteran center depth, the area the team has the most room for improvement is defensive wing depth.
The NBA’s #1 ranked defense has plenty of elite defensive players like Anthony Davis and Alex Caruso but at present, struggles to match up with tall, offensively-minded wings.
Case in point, in their recent 1 point victory over the Boston Celtics, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 58 points on 25/37 from the field.
A similar thing happened in an opening-night loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard combining for 59 points on 23/42 from the field.
Even in their most recent game, a double-overtime win against the Detroit Pistons, the Lakers allowed two non-stars in Jerami Grant and Josh Jackson to combine for 60 points.
It is clear that the Los Angeles Lakers could use some wing depth.
The Lakers are firing on all cylinders and signing a defensively-minded wing isn’t the team’s number one need, but several inexpensive options are likely to become available over the coming months. For the right price, even elite teams should look to make personnel upgrades when they can.
This article will discuss five defensive-minded wings that I believe the Lakers’ front-office should target. Like last week, this article will strive to be as realistic as possible, predominantly targeting players on rebuilding teams and teams with crowded wing rotations.