When LeBron James informed the Los Angeles Lakers that he intended to play elsewhere, it forced general manager Rob Pelinka to overhaul the roster to conform around Luka Doncic. During Day 2 of free agency, L.A. was active with acquiring Walker Kessler via sign-and-trade from the Utah Jazz as their first domino.
That was followed by signing Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Collin Sexton, Kevon Looney, Ziaire Williams, Matisse Thybulle and receiving Jaden Hardy in a trade. This team will need time to gel given how many new players there are, but the offense should rank fairly high this upcoming season. But, former Lakers player and coachByron Scott is concerned with the team’s defense given a lack of two-way personnel on the roster.
“I think some of their moves were really good. And I think the question is you’re gonna be able to score, but can you stop anybody? NBA Champions, it hasn’t changed in 40 years,” Scott told Lakers Nation at the 26th annual Harold & Carole Pump Foundation celebrity dinner. “The teams that are normally winning the NBA Championship as usually top five in defensive efficiency as well. That’s still a part of the game they’re gonna have to address and they’re gonna have to try to figure out what players they’re gonna bring in that could help them. They’re still out there. I don’t think the book is totally written and we just gotta wait and see.
“But some of the moves this summer I think were good. I think the trade with New York to get the kid (Cameron) Carr over here, I think he’s a very athletic, young basketball player that could play on both ends of the floor. They gotta find more like that. So it’s gonna be interesting. But it is an era now where it’s Luka’s team and we’ll see where that goes.”
The Lakers legend has valid reasoning to be worried about L.A.’s defensive capabilities, however, it was a step in the right direction to get younger and more athletic this offseason. Head coach JJ Redick and his coaching staff tend to implement schemes that garner positive results when it comes to their defense.
Continuously relying on Redick and his staff to make use of a team with limited two-way talent can be tough, however. Hopefully, when the regular season kicks off the team can surprise people defensively or else more roster overhaul may be necessary.
Byron Scott doesn’t believe Dr. Jerry Buss would be happy with Lakers
Lakers legends tend to stay invested in the team’s success with Scott being one of them as he has done coverage for Spectrum SportsNet. With the recent sequence of events, including Mark Walter selling his majority ownership in little over a year and the Buss family wanting to sell their minority stake, Scott thinks Dr. Jerry Buss would not be happy with the state of the Lakers right now.
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