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The Los Angeles Lakers would be foolish to not keep Stanley Johnson

By Jason Reed

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 25: Stanley Johnson #14 of the Los Angeles Lakers watches his shot during the game against the Brooklyn Nets at Crypto.com Arena on December 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 25: Stanley Johnson #14 of the Los Angeles Lakers watches his shot during the game against the Brooklyn Nets at Crypto.com Arena on December 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

Second takeaway: Carmelo Anthony and Malik Monk reminded us why the Los Angeles Lakers are inconsistent

The Los Angeles Lakers scored the second-most points all season on Tuesday against the Houston Rockets by scoring 132 in regulation. The only time the Lakers scored more than that this season was the triple-overtime loss against the Sacramento Kings. The offense was humming, although the Lakers still only won by nine.

A big reason why the offense was humming was because of Carmelo Anthony and Malik Monk. Both players had great games offensively as the Lakers finished with four players over 20 points. That game was a good example of just how good this team can be offensively with the shooters that they have.

The problem is that these role players have been inconsistent all season and this game was just another example of that. Monk did not have a terrible game, but he was not that great. He scored 15 points on six of nine shooting and two of five from three. Carmelo, on the other hand, did have a terrible game as he scored just five points on two of 11 shooting and had a plus/minus of 15.

One of the problems with the Lakers is that the team realized that the floor spacing would be an issue with Russell Westbrook so they loaded up on three-point shooters. However, they over-corrected and now the team has too many guys who can shoot and not enough guys who can play defense.

So sure, Monk and Carmelo could both score 20+ on any given night, but neither player can play good defense at all and are downright liabilities defensively. They have to have the big scoring nights for the Lakers to win games but the problem is that role players are just not consistent enough to do that. If they were they wouldn’t be role players.

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