The Los Angeles Lakers are having a solid season at 18-7, but that’s only good enough for them to be tied for the fourth seed in the Western Conference. The West is absolutely loaded this year, so there’s no room for error for the teams trying to get to the NBA Finals.
While the Lakers’ offense has looked very strong for much of the season, the defense is a major concern. LeBron James is arguably the best defender in the starting lineup, and he’s about to turn 41.
Jarred Vanderbilt is a great defender, but his play on offense is too poor for the team to give him good minutes. The Lakers need a good wing defender who can also shoot. They’ve been linked to New Orleans Pelicans forward Herb Jones, but it might be difficult for the team to acquire him.
This led to Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley floating Sacramento Kings guard Keon Ellis as a trade option.
“That’s why the Lakers would love to get Jones—but again, he’s presumably out of the price range. The franchise should focus its efforts, then, on prying Keon Ellis away from the Sacramento Kings,” Buckley wrote. “He’s the presumed headliner of the three-and-D market, per Stein, and yet, he should carry a relatively reasonable trade cost. Sacramento has severely cut Ellis’ playing time (17 minutes, down from 24.4 this past season), and his numbers have seen a similar hit.
“His 5.3 points are his fewest as a rotation-regular. Same goes for his conversion rates from the field (40 percent) and from three (37).”
Would Adding Ellis Move the Needle for Lakers?
The Lakers don’t have a lot of great tradeable assets, and money is tight. There’s only so much the team can do to improve the roster right now.
Buckley doesn’t think adding Ellis is a huge needle mover, but it helps nonetheless.
“The best version of Ellis could help fill some of this club’s most pressing needs,” Buckley wrote. “The Lakers, meanwhile, can offer the right elements around him to return him to that level. He could reserve nearly all of his energy for the defensive end while sustaining on an offensive diet of open catch-and-shoot chances.
“Technically speaking, it would be a relatively minor move for a low-minute role player. If he winds up helping the Lakers solve some of their biggest problems, though, it could be remembered as a significant pickup that perhaps fuels this team toward reaching its greatest postseason goals.”
Can Lakers Realistically Compete With Current Roster?
The problem facing the Lakers is the same problem that’s facing the rest of the NBA: How are you supposed to be the Oklahoma City Thunder? The team is young, loaded with star talent and deep.
What the Lakers have going for them is that Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves are about as good an offensive trio as there is in the NBA. When those three are hot, it’s going ot hard to slow them down.
That only makes the Lakers contenders, but unless they get better on defense, they stand a chance against the Thunder. It’s fair to question if it’s even possible to upgrade the defense enough during the season to close the gap.
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