Topic: With the team prepared to undergo a number of changes, we wonder which position is the biggest position of need this off-season.
Context: Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, and Robert Sacre are the only players under contract for the Lakers next season. Some of last year’s players will surely return and want to, but others will leave in free agency and the Lakers will have to replace them.
With the Lakers coming off one of their worst seasons in the history of the franchise, the team obviously has a lot of needs, but where the focus needs to be is a huge question mark.
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The franchise has a history of acquiring franchise-changing big men. From Mikan to Wilt. From Wilt to Kareem. From Kareem to Shaq. From Shaq to Gasol. History says the Lakers are at their best when they employ one of the best centers to dominate the paint.
But the game has changed significantly. In today’s NBA, there are very few true centers and point guards seem to dominate the game. This is the era of the point guard and with the Lakers having to face guys like Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, Tony Parker, Damian Lillard and Russell Westbrook three or four times a season, they need someone to match up and defend.
And to make matters worse, these are the final years of Kobe Bryant. The heir apparent needs to be brought in soon, and what better way to prepare to take over for Kobe than to learn from the era’s greatest himself.
Verdict: We went to Twitter to ask the Lakers Nation faithful — what is the team’s biggest positional need that must be addressed this off-season? These are some of the responses:
@TheeCoreyH @LakersNation Young n athletic particularly at the guard position n they have to be able to keep players in front of them !
— Laker for Life (@yurciaga) May 18, 2014
@TheeCoreyH @LakersNation Got to be a point. Been forever since we had a credible PG. YOU HEARING ME @daanteee
— Rick Oehring (@Rickford5150) May 18, 2014
@TheeCoreyH @LakersNation hoping to land a good perimeter defender to combat the elite PGs and SGs
— Benny Pux (@pux24) May 18, 2014
@TheeCoreyH @LakersNation every position. Mostly a legit center, and small forward who can defend
— Sam Dixon (@SamuelDixon24) May 18, 2014
@TheeCoreyH @LakersNation point and or center
— Martin Alcaraz (@MartinA_MFIC) May 18, 2014
@TheeCoreyH @LakersNation an athletic 3/4 with high ball iq
— Will Blast, (@WilliamBlast) May 18, 2014
The fans were relatively split on this subject, but there was a theme that became pretty apparent as the responses came in. The fans want people who can defend their position.
And who can blame them? The Lakers defense has been abysmal over the last couple of seasons and turning their defense around will go a long way to the team re-gaining its spot among the elite teams of the NBA.
Whether it is a point guard, a wing player, or a big man, the Lakers must have someone who can defend. But, in my opinion, point guard is the main position that must be addressed first and foremost.
There has never been a time with this many great point guards in the NBA. Night after night, the team faces a point guard who carves them up and figuring out how to contain that has to be top priority for the Lakers.
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I have been driving the Marcus Smart bandwagon for quite some time now. If the team fails to get a top-3 pick, I would love to see Smart come in and hound point guards every night for the next 15 years.
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