Lack of Frontcourt Productivity

As mentioned before, the Lakers signed Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell this past offseason to replace both Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee, but Gasol has been virtually non-existent at times this year and Harrell tends to be out-rebounded by other centers around the NBA. 

Adding Andre Drummond not only takes the unproductive Marc Gasol out of the equation for the Lakers, but gives them a former All-Star center who can not only still play at an All-Star level, but can do so for close to 30 minutes every single game. 

We talked about Andre Drummond’s rebounding and scoring numbers before, but his ability to consistently post double-doubles is very undervalued. While his production and stats will likely decrease because of LeBron James and Anthony Davis leading the team, Drummond is still going to be more productive than both Gasol and Harrell were in the frontcourt. 

With the addition of Drummond, Gasol will likely resort to a bench role with the Lakers and Montrezl Harrell will continue to be their “Sixth-Man” off-the-bench, but this team’s overall production and efficiency should increase because they will be a better scoring and rebounding team. 

Now, instead of just having to game plan for LeBron James and Anthony Davis, teams will have to figure out ways of how to keep Drummond off the glass and out of the paint. The Los Angeles Lakers now have one of the best frontcourts in the NBA with Davis and Drummond in the starting rotation and will be a tough team to keep off of the glass.