The Lakers Got Better This Offseason
The Lakers won the 2020 title quite easily, showing us that they’re team that we all found flawed, still could win a title. And while I expected the Lakers to get marginally better this offseason, them getting this much better was a bit shocking, especially for a defending champion. Here were all the moves the Lakers made this offseason that made them a much better team than last season.
Trading For Dennis Schroder
The Lakers lacked star talent at the guard position last season. Sure they had solid guys like Rajon Rondo and Avery Bradley, but they didn’t have a great scorer on the perimeter to compliment AD and Lebron. Trading for Schroder fixes that problem.
And the Lakers didn’t give up much for the 6th Man of the Year Candidate from a year ago. They traded the aging Danny Green and the 28th pick, quite the bargain. Now Schroder is a Laker and will help this team out a lot.
Schroder is a very effective scorer, great in the pick and roll. He is a great floor spacer, also very efficient. He will compliment this Lakers team well, and take some of the scoring pressure off Lebron and AD. And Schroder is another weapon on offense for the Lakers, giving teams even more of a headache while trying to guard the Lake-show.
This was one of the better moves of the entire offseason, and the Lakers are getting a stud in Schroder. This move will help them a lot during this upcoming offseason.
Free Agency Signings
In addition to getting the All-Star caliber guard in Schroder, the Lakers made a lot of moves in free agency, starting with re-signing KCP.
KCP was the best role player during the playoffs aside from maybe Rajon Rondo, and he was easily the most consistent. He has a decent shot and can play some defense. The Lakers resigned him to a 3yr/$40 Million Dollar Deal. A little more than I would have paid for a player of his caliber, but he’s back and will be a key piece if the Lakers want any chances at repeating.
The Lakers lost almost all of their big guy depth this offseason, but they did manage to get Marc Gasol on a two year deal. Gasol is getting older, but is still a solid player. He has a decent 3-point shot and isn’t a terrible defender. Now if he can stay reasonably healthy throughout the season, then this move will be worth it by LA.
The Lakers added sharp-shooter Wesley Matthews in place of Bradley, and I really like this move. Matthews is still a great shooter and defender, better than either Avery Bradley or Danny Green in my opinion. Matthews will be an excellent bench piece for the Lakers this offseason (I doubt he’ll take the starting role from KCP).
But the Lakers biggest signing was reigning 6th Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell. However, I don’t like the move much. Harrell is a energy guy, a guy who can score at will in the paint. But his defense isn’t great, and as we saw during the playoffs, if his offense fails to produce, then he’s a liability on the court. Now I don’t think he’ll be asked to score as much with Schroder, James, and AD on the floor, but this move I’m not a huge fan of, however I think Harrell can still prove to be useful for the defending champs.
Losses
While the Lakers were making all of these moves, they did lose 4 key members of their team from last season, losing their depth in the process.
They lost Avery Bradley as he signed with the Heat on a two-year deal. This one hurts a bit as Bradley was a solid shooter and defender for the Lakers. But while we said how Bradley would be missed by the 2020 Bubble Lakers, they still won the title without him, so I don’t think this one hurts as much as the others as the Lakers have proved that they can without him.
They lost veteran PG Rajon Rondo, and this one hurts. Rondo was excellent during the playoffs and was arguably the 3rd best player at times on the Lakers. Rondo was very tough and experienced, and helped with the ball-handling duties alongside Lebron James. This one does hurt as Rondo would have been an excellent backup to Dennis Schroder.
The Lakers lost Dwight Howard hours after he said he wanted to stay with the team. Howard was a solid back-up center as he was a great pest and rebounder. The Lakers rim protection got far worse this offseason, and rim protection was one of their greatest strengths last season. Losing Howard does hurt as AD will have to log in more minutes.
And the Lakers lost Javale McGee. McGee was the 2nd part of that duo, providing defense and rebounding. Like I said, the Lakers rim-protection got far worse, and their only replacement thus far has been Marc Gasol. I don’t get why the Lakers didn’t try harder to keep either one of these two, as they did great things last season. But now that they’re gone, the Lakers paint will be much more exposed than last season.
The Lakers had a great offseason, adding guys like Dennis Schroder and Montrezl Harrell. But they lost a lot of their rim-protection and their overall depth. Going into the 2020-21 season, here’s a look at their lineup.
PG: Schroder
SG: KCP
SF: Lebron James
PF: Anthony Davis
C: Marc Gasol
Bench: Harrell, Caruso, Kuzma, Morris, Matthews, Horton-Tucker
While I think that the Lakers made some improvements, their bench is a little bit worse. But nonetheless the Lakers should be the overwhelming favorites to repeat this offseason as they filled their areas of need well. I think that the teams will find it hard to beat the Lakers for a 2nd straight season, and don’t be surprised if LA hoists banner #18 into the stands at the end of this season.
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