Improve Defense At Point Of Attack

One of the biggest issues that the Los Angeles Lakers faced this season was their performance defensively. Los Angeles struggled mightily, finishing in the bottom third of the league in defensive rating despite that being their identity the first two seasons under Vogel’s watch.

For all of Russell Westbrook’s shortcomings, this may have been his most damning. He can still have an impact offensively even if his jump shot isn’t falling with his playmaking and relentless attacks into the paint. Defensively, there aren’t many positives he brings to the table.n

With Westbrook constantly being beat as the point of attack, it breaks out the entire defense behind him. Teammates are scrambling to get back into position and the results are disastrous. When playing off the ball, he had a tendency to lose his man, who would float to the 3-point line and have an open jumper or a back cut behind him.

Westbrook was far from the only negative defender, but when in the starting lineup, it is much more noticeable. LeBron James can no longer be relied upon as an elite defender every night and Westbrook was sometimes paired with underwhelming defenders in the backcourt.

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Finding more players that can get it done on that end of the floor, especially on the perimeter and in the backcourt, is a must. A player capable of defending multiple positions would be an added bonus.