The Los Angeles Lakers came into this offseason with a couple of priorities in improving the roster. Chief among them was finding a big man and the team accomplished that goal by signing Deandre Ayton in free agency. But another issue that Rob Pelinka spoke about earlier in the offseason was improving the team’s perimeter defense.
The only player last season that could be viewed as a true perimeter stopper was Jarred Vanderbilt, but injuries and offensive struggles can sometimes limit the impact he can make. Even still, the best teams have multiple players capable of defending the perimeter and the Lakers still lack those types of players.
Now with free agency beginning to wind down, improving their point of attack defense remains a priority for the Lakers, according to Dan Woike and Joe Vardon of The Athletic:
The Lakers have additional roster work to do. The team can create a roster spot by waiving guard Shake Milton, and team sources have said that improving the team’s point of attack defense is a priority.
In fairness, the Lakers have made a couple of moves to help address that this summer by drafting Adou Thiero with the 36th overall pick. He projects as a very good perimeter defender. They also signed Jake LaRavia, who has made it very clear that the defensive side of the ball is where he plans on making his mark with the purple and gold.
But the team apparently feels they haven’t done enough to address that issue just yet, so it will be interesting to see who the team could potentially target in free agency. One obvious name that the Lakers have been linked to since the start of free agency is De’Anthony Melton, who fits that mold of a defense-first guard perfectly, but things have been quiet on that front for some time now. Regardless, the Lakers remain a team with some moves to make this offseason and all eyes will continue to be on Pelinka to see what he pulls off.
Potential Lakers target Bradley Beal signs with Clippers after buyout from Suns
One player the Lakers seemingly had some interest in was guard Bradley Beal. His time with the Phoenix Suns was clearly at its end and a buyout was on the way and now it has become official. However, it is not the Lakers he will be joining but instead, Beal has agreed to a two-year, $11 million deal to join the Los Angeles Clippers.
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