After losing to the Eagles, the NBA Lakers suffered a wave of 3 consecutive losses, which made their record to 24 wins and 27 losses, the win rate has fallen to 47.1%, there are currently 18 teams in the league with a better win rate than them, the Lakers generally have many reasons for the record, so far this season, the Lakers have lost an average of 112.6 points per game in the fifth place in the league, more than their average points per game are the Rockets, Kings, Hornets and the Blazers, the offense is unstable, coupled with the defense of the crotch, Even if they have the Big Three, the Lakers look like they can lose to any team...
The Lakers' defensive problems are very obvious, but in fact, they have had many opportunities to have strong defensive players before, but unfortunately they pay more attention to veterans, fame and cost performance, which is part of the reason for their poor performance now, and on February 1, Beijing time, the US media "Lakeshowlife" listed the 3 strong defensive players that the Lakers could have easily, if they are in the Lakers, obviously the Lakers' defense will not be so bad now, so let's take a look at the 3 strong defensive players that the Lakers missed?
1. Otto Porter
In the deal involving Vucevic, Porter was sent to the Magic, the Magic are obviously not ready to keep him, Otto Porter entered the free market in the 2021 offseason, the Lakers have a lot of opportunities to get him, but the Lakers do not seem to care about this kind of unknown player, the Lakers signed the Warriors to abandon Kent Bazemore, and then 3 days later the Warriors signed Otto Porter with a base salary contract, the Warriors replaced Bazemore with Potter, the Lakers did not sign Porter but won Bazemore...
Bazemore averaged 3.9 points + 1.8 rebounds + 0.9 assists + 33.9% from the field + 37.1% from three-point range in the Lakers this season, Porter averaged 8.9 points + 5.4 rebounds + 1.6 assists + 48.6% from the field + 48.6% from three-point range with a three-point shooting percentage at the Warriors, Bazemore's offensive efficiency was 98.8, a defensive efficiency of 106.3, and Porter's offensive efficiency was 110.8. Defensive efficiency value of 100.1, the same bottom salary player, Bazemore's data was all-round by Porter, it has to be said that the Warriors management is too good.
2. Nemania-Bjelica
The Lakers signed Bazemore and Ariza on August 3, 2021, the Warriors signed Bjlitsa on August 4, yes, this is a very obvious miss, Bjelica is also a low-salary player, he and Otto Porter are different in that Bjlitsa was a more projection defensive player before, he played more than 40% of the three-point shooting rate in a single season during the Timberwolves and Kings, he is a potential 3D player who can try, unfortunately, the Lakers did not choose him...
So far this season, Ariza's average data so far this season is 3.4 points + 3.2 rebounds + 1.2 assists + shooting rate of 32.7% + three-point shooting rate of 31.7%, Nemania Bjelica average of 6.3 points + 4.1 rebounds + 1.9 assists + shooting rate of 44.6% + three-point shooting rate of 33.3%, Ali za into the defensive efficiency value of 113.7, Bjelica defensive efficiency value of 100.8, Ariza in addition to the experience and fame of the court, he does not have any advantage over Bjelica.
3. Alex Caruso
If Ariza + Bazemore is sent to the Warriors, the Lakers sign Bjlitsa + Porter, now the situation of these 2 teams may be completely different, and because this involves signing, the Lakers really can not 100% lock in free agents, miss Bjlitsa + Porter, this may also be because they do not want to play in the Lakers, but Caruso is different, Caruso is a player that the Lakers can completely stay, and Caruso has also made it clear that he is willing to continue to play for the Lakers.
In order to save money, the Lakers chose to keep Tucker and let Go of Caruso, who averaged 8.4 points + 3.8 rebounds + 3.9 assists + 1.93 steals + 42.6% shooting rate + 34.1% from three-point range , Tucker averaged 9.9 points + 3.3 rebounds + 2.5 assists + 0.86 steals + 40.7% from the field + 24.8% from three-point range , tucker 's offensive and defensive efficiency values were 106.2, respectively. 108.6, Caruso offensive and defensive efficiency values are 111.1, 102 respectively, this season Tucker's annual salary is 900,000 more expensive than Caruso...
Compared with the previous 2 places, the Lakers did not win Caruso should be the most regrettable, which should also be the root cause of the US media to put him in the last place of this article, right?