Although they’re off to an encouraging 15-5 start, good for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference as of this writing, the Los Angeles Lakers are already showing concerning signs of weakness.
LA’s three top players — five-time All-NBA First Team guard Luka Doncic, 21-time All-NBA forward LeBron James, and likely future All-Star guard Austin Reaves — are all elite ball handlers and scorers. But the Lakers’ depth beyond that triumvirate — plus that group’s fit together — is already in question.
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All three of Doncic, James and Reaves are now sub-par defenders. Current starting forward Rui Hachimura and starting center Deandre Ayton don’t seem to cover up James’ issues on that end of the floor, as Jovan Buha of “Buha’s Block” relays that the Lakers have a rough 128.3 defensive rating and a disappointing net rating of -5.6 when James, Hachimura and Ayton share the hardwood.
Buha’s solution? Trading away one member of that group. James has a no-trade clause on his expiring $52.6 million contract. Hachimura is on an expiring $18.3 million deal himself, while Ayton has a player option worth $8.1 million for 2026-27. Essentially, that means all three players could hit free agency next summer, which could hurt LA’s leverage in offloading any one of them via trade.
“If we look at the commonalities between the Warriors loss, the Blazers loss, the Hawks loss, the Thunder loss, and tonight’s loss against the Suns, the first thing that comes to my mind is speed and athleticism. There is a real disparity between the Lakers and those teams in each of those matchups,” Buha noted on a recent episode of his podcast, following the Lakers’ 125-108 defeat to Phoenix on Monday night. “All of those teams pressured the Lakers to some extent in terms of fullcourt pressure and even halfcourt pressure. And in all of the losses, they’ve struggled to some degree with their shooting, making teams pay for playing off of certain guys who are playing so aggressively.”
Ball control and playing with pace were also cited as key shortcomings for Los Angeles at this stage of the season.
The Lakers could certainly use a defensive combo forward type of player, a la All-Defensive Teamer Herbert Jones of the New Orleans Pelicans, if they want to compete deep into the playoffs next spring.
“They’ve also struggled with turnovers. And those teams have been able to speed up their processing, their decision making, and it has led to an array of turnovers for LA,” Buha said. “When they are facing a team that is clearly more athletic than them, and faster than them, at multiple positions, and excels at pressuring the ball and maybe doubling, and then veering back, and just kind of mucking up the game with their defensive style, the Lakers have struggled.”
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