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Los Angeles Lakers: Reasons for and against pursuing Wayne Ellington

By Jason Reed

Jan 28, 2021; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Wayne Ellington (8) drives to the basket against Los Angeles Lakers guard Wesley Matthews (9) during the third quarter at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 28, 2021; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Wayne Ellington (8) drives to the basket against Los Angeles Lakers guard Wesley Matthews (9) during the third quarter at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /
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Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports – Los Angeles Lakers
Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports – Los Angeles Lakers /

Reason against: Wayne Ellington is not a good defender

You can get by with having a few poor defenders on a roster. Not every player is going to be elite defensively and as long as said player is in the right scheme where he is not getting exposed then it will be just fine.

However, the Lakers are a team with a defensive-identity and don’t really have any poor defenders. Montrezl Harrell and Kyle Kuzma certainly have their flaws, but they are not as bad as Ellington is on the defensive end.

This seemingly makes it easier to pursue Ellington as he would have so many great defenders around him. The problem is, though, that the Lakers have made it a point that they value good defensive players and Ellington just is not that.

For that reason, the Lakers could pass on Ellington altogether.

How bad is Ellington on the defensive end? Thus far this season, he has posted a -1.7 Defensive Box Plus/Minus this season and has never posted a positive DPBM throughout his career. For comparison’s sake, the worst DBPM for a rotation player on the Lakers this season is Kyle Kuzma at -0.9.

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