Lakers News: Expert Pinpoints Massive Question Mark for LA
The Los Angeles Lakers are in the midst of preparing for training camp and fans should be very excited to see how this team comes together for the new season. It almost feels like in a snap of a finger, we went from battling the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals and now we found ourselves with a new roster about to kick off a new campaign.
GM Rob Pelinka did his job to the fullest this offseason as he recognized the chemistry between the squad last season and did his best to retain as many players from that team as possible. However, instead of Wenyen Gabriel and Tristan Thompson down low on the block with Anthony Davis, he now has Christian Wood and Jaxson Hayes as reinforcements.
And that leads right into a major question mark for the purple and gold heading into the 2023-2024 season posed by columnist Zach Stevens, Can the Lakers match up with opposing star big men?
"They do not have a wide-bodied 5 who can play legitimate one-on-one defense on prominent centers such as Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid. They may have to attempt to neutralize those centers by making them play defense, especially on the perimeter, and expend energy by running back in transition."
(Via Lakers Daily)
Obviously, Davis has the defensive ability to take on these types of big men but he also has a ton of offensive responsibilities. The hope with LA's new signings is that Wood will be able to provide some offensive relief down low and Hayes will be able to take some defensive strides that will allow him to guard the likes of Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid.
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