Lakers’ March Mailbag

With only 11 games left in one of the most of the most disappointing Lakers’ seasons in recent memory, there is no better time for reflection. The team continues to spiral, the playoffs are no longer in realistic reach and we have suddenly begun refreshing Tankathon every few minutes.

So in what is the second edition of my Lakers’ Mailbag (still working on a catchy name, bear with me) I once again turned to Twitter for some Lakers-centric inquires. And once again, I got some solid questions. Let’s get started.

What one type of player would you most like to see alongside the young core and Lebron moving forward? Like what positional archetype would help this group the most? 

I think for many people, including myself, this season opened my eyes in regards to the answer to this question. Prior to the year, I assumed a team could simply plug and play nearly any archetype next to LeBron James and  the results would be at the very least: positive. Yet, this Lakers’ squad proved the contrary.

Ideally, you would primarily want perimeter shooting, off-ball gravity and a player who could at the very least make an open three next to James and the young core. All of the Lakers’ young players, beside Lonzo Ball, took steps back in their 3-point percentages this season. The team’s biggest ailment has been their inability to make the easy ones. The Lakers continue to be dead last in wide-open 3-point percentage (34.4 percent) in the league.

Beside shooting ability, adding extra wing defenders would also be a big benefit. This season the team’s defense drastically waxed and waned as they were 10th in the league in defensive rating by the end of December and 21st ever since. This has mostly been due to the lack of quality/consistent defenders on the roster. Of which, was exponentially made more apparent once the snowball of injuries occurred.

Contracting more prototypical “3 and D” players is a definite start in the right direction, but more importantly will be adding ones who also are fundamentally sound in both technical and provide effort will be the key.

Which of the following players do you see playing a larger role next year: Wagner, Williams, Bonga? 
Wagner though, needs to improve in order to secure that larger role next season, namely within his spacing efficiency and general defensive wherewithal.
On a very small sample (42 possessions) Wagner is scoring only 0.71 points per spot up possession this season per Synergy. Of which is in only the 10th percentile of the league. This simply needs to improve in order to become a reliable pick and pop/catch and shoot threat next to James and company.
On defense, Wagner has expectantly struggled in his short stints on the floor. His defense on the perimeter, specifically his close-outs on shooters (97th percentile ~ small sample) has been encouraging, but in space (9th percentile defending isolation) and in the post (1st percentile defending post ups) the rookie still needs work.
Why did Magic really think in summer that the ball-handlers could solve the problem of offense? what kind of offense should have it been? 

The logic, at least in Magic Johnson’s words, were (I am paraphrasing) there is not a team who can out-Warriors the Warriors. Which in reality, is true. The Golden State Warriors are a unique hybrid team sent from space the to demolish the NBA. One 3-pointer at a time. And at the moment, there is not much anyone could do about it.

But while the theory does hold some water, to completely zag off the map just to be “different” for the sake of being different, does not. The process itself in which the roster was constructed felt nonexistent. Or at the very least seemed like a spitball idea that most ran with.

In terms of what type of offense that should have been run, one with proper spacing and a fundamental understanding of reactionary screen-setting, quick cuts, etc would have been ideal with James. Something that continues to be noticeably absent. A hopefully learned lesson going into next season.

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