Los Angeles Lakers: How will the new backcourt perform on defense?

The Bench Backcourt Rotation

• Kendrick Nunn
• Talen Horton-Tucker
• Kent Bazemore

Most Lakers fans were ecstatic Kendrick Nunn signed with the Lakers. I was not. His defensive metrics were ugly last season. He finished the year ranked 353 in defensive rating and 114 in ESPN’s defensive real plus-minus.

Unlike Malik Monk, Kendrick Nunn didn’t spend the last couple of seasons playing for a new coach with little defensive acumen, in a flawed system, with offensive-minded players surrounding him. Nunn played for Eric Spoelstra, a coach who has guided the Miami Heat to three top-10 finishes in defensive rating. Note: In the one season (2019-2020), the Heat finished outside the top-10; They ranked 11th.

Kendrick Nunn also suited up next to Jimmy Butler, a guy so intense on defense he makes the sun shy away. Plus, his backline defender, Bam Adebayo, is an athletic big, not quiet on Anthony Davis’s level, but a player who is more than capable of cleaning up his teammates’ mistakes at the rim.

At 6’2″, 190 pounds, Kendrick Nunn isn’t a large point guard, but he’s not exactly tiny like Kemba Walker or Trae Young. He has the size to play solid defense, but his effort seems to wax and wane throughout games, and he tends to get lost too often.

Kendrick Nunn could improve next to LeBron James, and maybe Frank Vogel will find a new method to coach him up. Both seem unlikely, though, considering Jimmy Butler has as strong a personality as anyone in the league, and Eric Spoelstra is an excellent coach. Nunn could be a weak link on defense next season for the Lakers.

Most Lakers fans know Talen Horton-Tucker’s story. The 46th pick in the 2019 draft has incredible physical attributes. He stands at 6’4″, 235 pounds, with a ridiculous 7’1″ wingspan. Lakers management looks so highly upon 20-year-old THT that he was the hangup in last season’s trade deadline deal for Kyle Lowry. And Rob Pelinka essentially picked him over the more proven Alex Caruso by letting AC walk and signing Horton-Tucker to a three-year contract.

THT’s going to be an excellent player in the league, perhaps an All-Star. But, next season, will he be able to fill the void Alex Caruso left when he signed with Chicago?

The Los Angeles Lakers are going to miss Alex Caruso. He was the best perimeter defender on the team, and it wasn’t close. Frank Vogel called on AC repeatedly to shut down the opposing team’s hottest guard, and time and time again, Caruso came into the game and harassed whatever player was torching the Lakers until they cooled off. AC stopped the bleeding on defense. Will THT do the same? Will he smother Damian Lillard and get under his skin? Will he make Stephen Curry hate him? It’s possible, but probably not.

This isn’t a knock on Horton-Tucker, but I can’t see him slowing down the top point guards in the league as Alex Caruso did. AC’s defensive instincts and defensive IQ are unique. Like nearly every wing in the NBA, THT hasn’t shown the same ability to smother the top offensive players.

With Alex Caruso gone, and Talen Horton-Tucker stepping into his spot, the Lakers will struggle at times, slowing down the likes of Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchel, and Devin Booker.

Last season on the Warriors, Kent Bazemore played primarily at the small forward and power forward positions, and the year before in Sacramento, he didn’t play a single minute in the backcourt. The Lakers also have a surplus of guards and only two true small forwards in LeBron James and 36-year-old Trevor Ariza. Still, Bazemore could see action at the 2 spot on the Lakers, and some folks think he could start next to Russell Westbrook.

Last season Bazemore led the Golden State Warriors in defensive rating over former Defensive Player of the Year, Draymond Green, and he held his assignments to two percent under their normal shooting average.

He’s not quite capable of shutting down the best offensive wings in the game, and he’s not as good as Horton-Tucker, but he’s a solid 3-and-D wing, who’ll help the Lakers defense, and could easily close games next to Westbrook, LeBron, and Davis.