The biggest defensive liabilities on the Los Angeles Lakers roster

By Jason Reed | Sep 10, 2021

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(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

Carmelo Anthony

It is not a hot take to say that Carmelo Anthony is a fairly large defensive liability for the Los Angeles Lakers. In fact, it would be a hot take to say the contrary and suggesting that Frank Vogel might even be taking it too far.

Vogel can certainly put Carmelo in situations where his defensive ability is not hurting the team as much as it would otherwise, but he is not going to make him a better defensive player at this stage in his career. Melo has never been known for his defense and at his age that is not going to change.

It is going to be interesting to see what kind of role Anthony plays on the Los Angeles Lakers. He can obviously still score the basketball, shooting above 40% from beyond the arc last season, but his athleticism is waning and his defense is going to create problems for the Lakers.

Despite the Lakers being so deep I see Carmelo getting a fair amount of playing time in the regular season. There are going to be a lot of blowouts for the Lakers and with Carmelo and Trevor Ariza being the team’s best bench forwards, they will be coming in a lot for LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

But in close games where the outcome is up in the air, Carmelo probably won’t play as much or play in important moments because of his defense.

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