It may have flown under the radar, but it has become crystal clear that the Los Angeles Lakers are the NBA's deepest team.
This point was strongly supported via the team's W over the Indiana Pacers a few days back. While LeBron, AD and Austin Reaves delivered their usual dosage of dominance (combined for 87 points, 26 rebounds and 21 assists), it was Spencer Dinwiddie (filling in for the absent and under-appreciated D'Angelo Russell) who stole the show.
Dinwiddie, who has made up for his offensive struggles via his stout defensive effort thus far as a Laker, notched 26 points and 5 assists on the evening while also effectively shutting down Tyrese Haliburton (12 points on 5-13 shooting). It has taken the Los Angeles native a bit to find his footing with the purple and gold, but his big night on both ends in this one was a pleasant surprise for the entire organization.
It was also a profound reminder of just how incredibly deep this roster is. Think about their depth chart when fully healthy for a second:
PG: D'Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie, Gabe Vincent, Jalen Hood-Schifino
SG: Austin Reaves, Cam Reddish, Max Christie
SF: Rui Hachimura, Taurean Prince, Maxwell Lewis
PF: LeBron James, Jarred Vanderbilt
C: Anthony Davis, Christian Wood, Jaxson Hayes
Fully healthy Lakers depth chart is as deep as it comes
Aside from the two rookies Hood-Schifino and Lewis, can you honestly say that any of the names above are not at the very least rotation-ready role players?
Spencer Dinwiddie, Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Christian Wood would almost assuredly be starting on a plethora of other teams. Cam Reddish, Max Christie, and Jaxson Hayes might not quite be at that level just yet, but they are each 24 years old or younger, and each of them is more than deserving of non-garbage time minutes.
This team has stars (LeBron and AD), high level secondary support pieces that may blossom into full-fledged stars over the next few seasons (Russell, Reaves, and Hachimura), shooters (Russell, LeBron, Reaves, Prince, etc.), defenders (Davis, Vanderbilt, Vincent, Reddish, Christie, Prince, etc.), rebounders (Davis, James, Wood, Hayes, Hachimura, etc), and now yet another secondary playmaker/high-level defender to help fill in the cracks (Dinwiddie).
It is becoming more and more difficult to pinpoint any glaring weaknesses within the composition of this roster, and anyone opposing the idea that this is the deepest team in the league needs to re-think their definition of depth.
Time will tell if all of these pieces can combine to deliver another championship trophy to the Lakers' piling collection, but as of right now, they are beginning to click on all cylinders at exactly the right time.
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