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Los Angeles Lakers: 3 most disappointing players in 2021 thus far

By Jason Reed

HOUSTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 10: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers consoles Markieff Morris #88 during the first quarter of a game against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on January 10, 2021 in Houston, 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 Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 10: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers consoles Markieff Morris #88 during the first quarter of a game against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on January 10, 2021 in Houston, 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 Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

3. Marc Gasol

Some fans will disagree with me on this one but I do think that Marc Gasol is getting more negative feedback than deserved. Yes, he has been disappointing this season, but he has not been as downright awful as some think.

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The eye test is not always pretty with Gasol but he is still playing solid defense and is a capable rebounder himself. Gasol leads the entire team in Defensive BPM and is fifth in defensive win shares despite playing only 484 minutes thus far this season.

However, it is important to note that the team has rebounded better with Gasol off the court. The top six five-man lineups this season in total rebound percentage are all without Gasol. Only two of the top 10 five-man lineups in terms of total rebound percentage have Gasol included.

He has also been a negative on the offensive end. You could spin the fact that he is not limiting Anthony Davis and clogging the lane, which is true, but it is not like AD has been scoring the basketball all that great this season and Gasol certainly has not been either.

Gasol is averaging 3.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. Statistically speaking, he is the worst offensive player on the Lakers. He has the worst effective field goal percentage and the worst Offensive BPM.

He was not supposed to be an elite offensive option, though. While it was fair to expect better than this, it was unfair to expect Gasol to even be a seven and seven player at this point in his career.

So I will defend Gasol a tad because he has still been solid on the defensive end.

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Outside of that, though, Gasol has been a fairly big disappointment, especially for those that were really buying in on him when they probably should not have been.

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