The Los Angeles Lakers deserve recognition for not sitting still this summer. But that hasn’t stopped them from drawing criticism from various quarters all offseason.
As ESPN’s Zach Kram noted, the Lakers’ highly active summer doesn’t necessarily mean all the moves they made were the right ones.
“The Lakers might have been the busiest team of the summer,” Kram wrote. “But did all that activity make them better, or were they merely running in place? In came (Walker) Kessler, (Sandro) Mamukelashvili, (Quentin) Grimes, (Collin) Sexton, (Kevon) Looney, Jaden Hardy, (Matisse) Thybulle and (Ziaire) Williams. Out went (LeBron) James, (Rui) Hachimura, (Marcus) Smart, (Luke) Kennard, (Deandre) Ayton and (Jaxson) Hayes. … The Lakers mostly did well with depth signings such as Thybulle and Williams. But it’s hard to overcome not replacing James’ production, even in his 40s. They have less flexibility now, and it’s hard to say with confidence that they’re any closer to title contention.”
Perhaps how close the Lakers are to competing for a championship rests on Walker Kessler’s shoulders. Not that he is the team’s best player, because, well, c’mon. But he was the big swing of the summer. And if he hits his ceiling playing alongside Luka Doncic, the Lakers can be lethal.
Lakers’ Decision Drawing Criticism Yet Again
The Lakers’ decision to rip off a blockbuster sign-and-trade for Kessler has been debated from the moment it happened. What we can gather from all the chatter is that people aren’t necessarily questioning L.A.’s belief in Kessler; they are just wondering — quite deeply, at that — if giving up all that the Lakers did was the right thing to do.
Take it from an anonymous NBA scout who recently spoke to Sports Illustrated about the dynamic of the new-look Lakers roster. Although Kessler was brought in to be an elite defensive anchor for L.A., this scout believes the team is in trouble.
”I think the Lakers are going to be in trouble defensively,” the scout told SI. “Kessler is known for shot blocking, or I guess he’s known for his defense, but really he’s a good shot blocker. He’s not, I don’t think, a great all-around defender. But he can protect the rim. So I guess step one is not to give up layups. I’ll be curious to see how he does.”
The scout argued that Kessler’s inability to defend outside of the paint, coupled with the let’s-just-say average-at-best defense of Doncic and Austin Reaves, is going to spell trouble for L.A.
“Offensively, Luka and Reaves are great. But which one of them is going to guard?“ the scout said. ”That answer is obvious. It has to be Reaves because Luka’s not going to. So does guarding the best player take a toll on Reaves, or do they find someone else that will be able to guard that best guy who’s capable of it? I don’t know.”
L.A. Banking On All Offense?
Perhaps the Lakers’ plan is just to outscore everyone. Because this scout believes the team isn’t very well equipped to stop opponents from scoring buckets.
”Maybe the Lakers are just going to try and score more than everyone,” the scout said, “but they’re going to have to at least get up into the body and hope that Walker can be that kind of rim protector that they just funnel everything to.”
Lakers fans will immediately beg to differ. Kessler is young and ascending and has demonstrated the ability to defend talented scorers on the perimeter. Now the Lakers probably won’t have him hanging out there trying to guard the Shai Gilgeous-Alexanders and Anthony Edwards of the world, but it’s not like they’ll be rushing to intentionally foul if the 7’2” Kessler gets switched onto an elite perimeter player.
Lakers Hit With Bad News as NBA Scout Declares ‘Trouble’ After Major Addition