The Los Angeles Lakers made a lot of changes in the past three months, beginning with the decision to let LeBron James go and moving right through the acquisition of center Walker Kessler, and role players like Sandro Mamukelashvili, Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton. L.A. entered the summer with a significant swath of cap space and while they overhauled the NBA roster, there are some questions about whether the team actually got any deeper.
Indeed, it is a roster pocked with holes beyond the trio of Kessler, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Quentin Grimes will start as a wing, but as one Western Conference coach told Heavy Sports, “Quentin Grimes is a fringe starter, we’ll see how that goes. He is a guy you root for, but it’s questionable having him as a starter at (small forward). And there’s no starting power forward.”
Lakers Have Roster Holes
That’s been a common complaint about the Lakers. Mamukelashvili has been designated as a bench player who will back up at power forward and center, but not as a starter. The Lakers pursued Jonathan Kuminga as a potential starting power forward, but he ultimately signed with Minnesota.
The counter from many in the Lakers organization has been that they brought in depth, even if there is a hole in the starting group. But even there, things get a little dodgy. Again, the trio of Doncic, Reaves and Kessler is not really in question. It’s everything else. Kessler’s backup is Kevon Looney, who was unplayable in New Orleans (!) last season. There isn’t a starting 4, and the backup 4–Mamukelashvili–struggled to get on the floor for the Raptors in the playoffs last year because of his poor defense.
Sexton is a quality backup point guard, and rookie Cameron Carr holds some promise as a reserve wing scorer.
‘That Is Not Depth, That Is Faking It’
But the notion that the Lakers loaded up on wings is a head-scratcher to some around the league. They signed Ziaire Williams from the Nets, and oft-injured Matisse Thybulle from the Blazers, and those have been held up as examples of the Lakers getting deeper.
The West coach, though, is skeptical there. “That’s not depth, that is faking it,” he said. “The Nets did not want Ziaire Williams back even on a minimum deal. They’re rebuilding and he is 25. What does that tell you about what they think of his future? And Thybulle has played (45) games in two years. Maybe he can stay healthy but even then, he is not the same defender he was early in his career.
“They have some young guys who might turn out–(Adou) Thiero, he is a big one. If they are going to have real depth, it is going to be him, it is going to be Carr playing well. It’s not going to be these veterans.”
Lakers Called Out by Coach for ‘Faking It’ in 1 Key Area