Los Angeles Lakers: 2 pros and 1 con of signing James Ennis

Pro for the Los Angeles Lakers: James Ennis is a serviceable defender

James Ennis is by no means a great defensive player but he is someone who is serviceable and is definitely better than some of the other options the Los Angeles Lakers could sign. Isaiah Thomas is an awful defensive player, Ennis is serviceable and can give quality minutes defensively.

The Lakers need to add more serviceable defensive players to the rotation. Frank Vogel will absolutely get the best out of players defensively but there are still some options that won’t be great.

Carmelo does not have the athleticism to be a great defender, Russell Westbrook needs to make far better choices before we consider him to be a serviceable defender and someone like Malik Monk, who I love as a bench scorer, needs to prove that he can be good defensively.

Ennis already has a baseline level of defending that Frank Vogel and co. can work with. He is by no means an elite defensive player but with his athleticism and his six-eleven wingspan, there is a lot of potential there.

Ennis has always been right around league average in terms of defensive analytics. He posted a -0.1 Defensive Box Plus/Minus last season with a career average of -0.1. Yes, that is negative, but that is as close to average as you can get.

An average defensive player with great physical traits is bound to improve in Frank Vogel’s system.