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Lakers News: LA makes pointless backup point guard signing

By Jason Reed

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - DECEMBER 22: D.J. Augustin #14 of the Houston Rockets dribbles the basketball looking to pass dtg against the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum on December 22, 2021 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Bucks defeated the Rockets 126-106. 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 John Fisher/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - DECEMBER 22: D.J. Augustin #14 of the Houston Rockets dribbles the basketball looking to pass dtg against the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum on December 22, 2021 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Bucks defeated the Rockets 126-106. 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 John Fisher/Getty Images) /
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Most of the recent Los Angeles Lakers news has been extremely negative for the team. After getting blown out by the New Orleans Pelicans, which was following dysfunction with LeBron James, the Lakers made an addition to try and bolster the forces on the team.

The Lakers released DeAndre Jordan and signed point guard DJ Augustin in his place. The timing of this signing could not have been more ironic for us at Lake Show Life, as we declared yesterday that the Lakers would not be making any buyout signings this season.

While the Lakers instantly made us look foolish, the team might as well have not made a signing at all. This may seem like positive Lakers news to some, but quite frankly, DJ Augustin is a completely pointless signing for the team.

The D.J. Augustin Lakers news means absolutely nothing for the team.

If you just glance at Augustin’s stat line then you might think that the Lakers are getting a solid backup point guard for Russell Westbrook. Augustin can shoot the three-ball and is shooting over 40% from beyond the arc this season with a combined 39.8% mark over the last five seasons.

There is no denying that he can hit some threes but that does not really add anything new to what the team already has. The Lakers have some decent three-point shooters among their role players. Carmelo Anthony, Malik Monk and Wayne Ellington all have solid shooting marks this season. Avery Bradley is not so bad, either.

What the team does not have a lot of is perimeter defense. Augustin adds the opposite of that as the undersized, 5-11 point guard is a horrible defender and is going to only make LA’s defense worse.

How Frank Vogel utilizes Augustin in the rotation is going to be incredibly interesting to see. He feels almost borderline unplayable next to someone like Avery Bradley, who is also undersized, or next to Monk or Ellington, who are also bad defenders.

Perhaps he could play next to Talen Horton-Tucker but then Frank Vogel would be playing two of the league’s worst players (in terms of Box Plus/Minus) next to each other in the backcourt. THT has a -3.5 BPM and Augustin has a -4.4 BPM. They rank 310th and 329th, respectively, out of 336 players with at least 500 minutes played this season.

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I applaud the team for at least trying to add depth because I really did think that they would be cheap because of the tax and not make any signings at all. But in reality, Augustin does nothing more than refresh the Lakers news cycle before the team probably gets blown out again by the Dallas Mavericks.

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