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2 areas of the Los Angeles Lakers roster that could become a problem

By Jason Reed

Feb 22, 2021; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) moves to the basket against Washington Wizards guard Russell Westbrook (4) and forward Rui Hachimura (8) during the first half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 22, 2021; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) moves to the basket against Washington Wizards guard Russell Westbrook (4) and forward Rui Hachimura (8) during the first half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /
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(Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

1. The Los Angeles Lakers defense

The Los Angeles Lakers do have some solid defensive players. Anthony Davis is going to be in the running for Defensive Player of the Year, LeBron James is still really good when he is trying in the playoffs and Talen Horton-Tucker has a lot of defensive potential.

Outside of that, there are a lot of question marks when it comes to the Lakers defensively. Russell Westbrook has good advanced defensive metrics as he is a solid overall defensive player because of his physicality and motor.

However, we have seen time and time again that Westbrook is prone to make defensive mistakes and misjudgments in big moments. His hero ball nature tends to come out on the defensive end and that could hurt the Lakers.

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The other members of the backcourt, besides THT, are not that great defensively. Kendrick Nunn has potential and is not terrible but is also undersized. Malik Monk and Wayne Ellington have historically been bad defensively. Rajon Rondo is bad defensively. Kent Bazemore is average at worst, but he is regressing at this stage of his career.

Carmelo Anthony is not a good defender, Dwight Howard is fine but is not versatile. Marc Gasol is solid but cannot be used much. Trevor Ariza seemingly has defensive ability but is also in the latter stages of his career and is regressing.

The hope is that Frank Vogel does what he has done in the past and makes the most out of what the Lakers have and maximizes guys on the defensive side of the football. That being said, the team did trade one of its best perimeter defenders in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and lost its second-best defender (behind AD) in Alex Caruso.

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