NBA: Breaking down the Lakers, Clippers after a dramatic offseason

Los Angeles Lakers – weaknesses

Questions marks on the defensive end

The for sure things are Green and Davis, but it’s plausible to be concerned over everyone else.

Throughout his tenure in Boston, Avery Bradley was arguably a top 3 on-ball defender. Since being traded and focusing more on the offensive end, these past two years – perhaps to be rewarded with a better contract – Bradley’s defensive effort has diminished.

DeMarcus Cousins has never been considered a defensive player, but his ability has only gotten worse with his Achilles injury.

LeBron coasting on defense, due to his age, has already been well-publicized, the past few years, and though Rondo has never been a good on-ball defender, he managed to make several all-defensive teams since he was great at playing the passing lanes and had Garnett and Perkins to protect the paint. But now that he’s older, that ability has somewhat regressed.

As a result, Davis and Green are going to be forced to cover up a lot of ground and make up for everyone else’s defensive mistakes. LeBron and Bradley are fully capable of being good defenders, but they will have to actually show it on the court this coming season.

LeBron’s age

Tim Duncan is considered by many to be the greatest power forward of all time. And like Karl Malone, his game aged gracefully well into his late 30s.

In fact, the NBA media and fans oftentimes joked how Duncan was Benjamin Button since he never aged in terms of playoff production for 17 straight years. This was most notably the case during the 2013 and 2014 finals where, at age 36 and 37, Duncan gave the Miami Heat fits.

Yet, out of nowhere, by the 2015-16 season, he fell off a cliff (maybe due to the knee injury he suffered at his age) and became a liability on offense during the Spur’s playoff run that year.

Chris Paul is a similar example. After playing well in the 2017 playoffs, at age 33, to secure a lucrative contract, he struggled and showed his age the following season. He’s still an effective player and can depend on his great intellect, but his best basketball is probably behind him.

Point being, no one ever knows when father time will come knocking on that door. LeBron can still have another three years of being dominant, but his time can also run out when you least expect it.

Limited shot creation

Outside of Lebron, there is no one on the roster who can really create offense for themselves. Davis can do it somewhat in the mid-post area, but a big man still needs to receive the ball down in the block, unlike guards and wings who can bring the ball up and create an opportunity for themselves.

If LeBron misses time due to an injury or load management, the offense will have to run entirely through Davis.

In New Orleans, when the game was on the line, Gentry often depended on a Jrue Holiday and Anthony Davis pick-and-roll game. Will there be similar results with a Rondo and Davis version? After all, it worked in spurts when Rondo was with the Pelicans.

Coach pecking order

Frank Vogel was an excellent coach in Indiana, but so was Lionel Hollins during his coaching tenure in Memphis. Will Vogel’s high-caliber assistants all work well with one another and be willing to listen to each other? Is this the Lakers’ front office subtle way of putting pressure on Vogel to get the job done this season, otherwise one of his assistants will take his place? Two questions that have yet to be answered.

All things considered, every NBA fan is craving a Christmas matchup between these two teams and ideally, a playoff matchup in April or May. Hopefully, one, if not both, of these outcomes can transpire next season.