Los Angeles Lakers: 3 reasons to add Sekou Doumbouya to the rotation

3. Sekou Doumbouya is legitimately good on defense and still has potential

Perhaps the area that the Los Angeles Lakers took the biggest step back in this season was the team’s defense. The Lakers lost several key defensive players and did not really replace them proficently.

As it stands right now, the Lakers are around league average in team defense. In the playoffs, they will be slightly better with Anthony Davis playing more center and LeBron James actually trying on D. However, they are still far from being the defensive menace that they were last season.

The team definitely needs help on defense right now and Sekou Doumbouya would be a legitimate addition on the defensive side. Doumbouya showed off some of his defensive prowess in his eight minutes against the Blazers, recording two steals.

While his career thus far has been disappointing he has consistently shown a lot of promise on the defensive side of basketball. He has the size and length that naturally gives him an edge defensively and if he gets properly utilized by a defensive head coach like Frank Vogel then the sky is the limit for him defensively.

Doumbouya is still only 20 years old and is only two years removed from being drafted in the lottery. There is a lot of potential there for him to not only help the Lakers this season but blossom into a legitimate rotation player for years to come.

Giving him a chance right now, while the team needs him and his defense, is only going to accelerate that potential growth as a player.