NBA: 9 extremely bold predictions for the 2019-20 season

The Lakers will be an elite defensive team

When you surround LeBron James with shooters, your team is going to be an elite offensive squad. When you add Anthony Davis to the mix as well, the offensive potential of your team becomes silly.

So, we’re not going to address the Lakers offense here because that wouldn’t be very bold!

Their defense, on the other hand, seems to divide fans and analysts much more.

But I think they’re going to surprise some people with how good they are on that end.

First off, everything starts with AD on the defensive end. The Brow is one of the best defenders in the league and is a guy who could legitimately win Defensive Player of the Year if his team’s defense is good enough compared to other elite squads. With him anchoring the paint, you’re always going to have a chance of coming up with a stop and in the end, that’s what it’s all about, right?

Up front, you also have Dwight Howard and Javale McGee who are each defensive presences in their own right.

While Dwight isn’t the athletic freak he was in Orlando, he still has the same defensive instincts and timing that made him a three-time Defensive Player of the Year winner and when Davis goes to the bench for his rest, Dwight is still capable of anchoring an NBA defense, even if, at this point in his career, it’s only for around 20 minutes a night.

And for McGee, while he is still prone to the occasional lapse, he’s come a long way since his Shaqtin’ a Fool days and you can’t argue that he is a solid rim protector and interior presence.

Moving out to the perimeter, you have guys like Danny Green who is still and All-NBA defender well into his thirties, Avery Bradley who’s one of the toughest on-ball defenders and pests when he’s locked in and you also can’t forget about KCP who can really lock up when he’s engaged.

So clearly, the Lakers have the individual defenders to get the job done but to be an elite defensive team, you need to play elite team defense.

And that’s when it helps to have Frank Vogel as a head coach. If you remove his failed stint in Orlando, Vogel has actually been one of the best defensive coaches in the league if you look at his time with the Pacers so I expect him to implement a solid defensive scheme and structure with this unit.

But the head coach can only do so much. It then becomes the players’ responsibility to execute the defensive gameplan on the floor and to do that well, you need leaders to act as the extension of the coach on the floor and while a lot of that will be Davis’ responsibility, I also think both Rondo and LeBron will play a major role here.

Over the past few seasons, there has been a lot of talk about LeBron’s decline on the defensive end – not in terms of his ability, more so in terms of effort.

And while it’s clear that James does take plays off on that end and will often use defensive possessions to rest up, he is still a net positive on that end, largely due to his genius-level basketball IQ (the same applies to Rondo, but to a lesser extent). LeBron knows the tendencies of other players and the gameplans of opposing offenses and he uses that knowledge, along with his excellent communicating to still impact the game defensively.

And when he does up his effort, he shows that he can still be a feared stopper when required and for the Lakers to be a dominant defensive unit, the King will be required to do a little more on that side than in years past, but he has said himself that he is up for the challenge.