President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka and head coach JJ Redick spoke at length on several topics at Thursday’s season-opening presser. A central theme was personnel. They wanted to recruit players whose profiles match Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves at their primes.
Acquiring a new big-man anchor and younger athletes this offseason will help implement a more aggressive defensive identity than last year.
Despite winning 53 games, the Lakers finished with the tenth-worst defense. Every other 50-win
team finished at least in the top seven, except the Nuggets (21st) and the Cavs (15th).
An identity shift will begin this season at the center position with Walker Kessler.
“I think Walker’s a perfect fit for Luka and [Reaves],” Redick said. “Just in terms of his rim protection and really being an anchor for our defense. It’s an area we’ve struggled with.”
Struggled is an understatement. The Lakers ranked second-to-last in opponents’ shooting percentage at the rim last season, giving up 72% in the restricted area. Not unrelated, the team traded away starting center Deandre Ayton and backup big man Jaxson Hayes was not re-signed.
While the Lakers offense has clear direction with Luka and Austin leading the charge, the defense now does too. Players will all be funneled toward Kessler at the rim.
The gap in rim protection is canyon-sized. LA got 1.8 blocks per game total out of their main centers last season, while Kessler averaged 2.4 himself in his last healthy campaign. He pairs elite timing with a quick jump and a 9’5” standing reach to erase attempts like the one shown below.
His addition alone instantly turns the Lakers from a poor rim-protection team into an elite one. This is predicated, of course, on whether they can keep the big man near the basket.
“I know we have switched a lot one through five the last two years,” Redick said. “That has been by necessity.”
The hopeful advantage of one-through-five switching is to negate any screen action. It can help slower foot players, since chasing over and around screens takes a lot of effort, and switching conserves energy.
Good offenses took advantage by controlling the terms of engagement. They consistently got the matchup they wanted with little to no resistance and forced LA’s big man out of the paint.
Watch below as the switching scheme the Lakers go to on Christmas Day lets Kevin Durant find Ayton with ease. He backs up helplessly, giving Durant the space to knock down his patented jump shot.
Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura and Luke Kennard were all in the top eight of minutes last year and now are on different franchises. Smart was the only one with a defensive reputation, but he turned 32 with a ton of playoff miles and needed to be load-managed.
Superstar LeBron James, who turns 42 in December, also walked in free agency, bringing a brand new perimeter and forward rotation.
“We have the guys who can pick up full court, guard, and be disruptive,” Redick said. He specifically named Ziaire Williams, Matisse Thybulle, Adou Thiero and Quentin Grimes as main contributors in this area.
They all bring different styles and skill sets, with Thybulle having the highest pedigree as an NBA All-Defensive member for two seasons. Together, they form a rotation of defensive playmakers and attackers.
Williams and Thybulle led their respective teams in deflections a year ago and having an elite center behind them gives them the freedom to play more aggressively, knowing protection is there.
The Lakers will hope screen navigation is a strength this year, with players fighting over and bothering the league’s top playmakers. They have the personnel to get deflections and force turnovers as shown below, a place they were middle of the pack last season.
Ball pressure and great rim protection are synergistic on the defensive end and accentuate each other.
The starting backcourt won’t be asked to do that, given the offensive burden on their shoulders. Even so, they need more consistent effort and attention to detail on that end. There’s no world where the Lakers have a good defense without Luka and Reaves contributing.
Reaves has shown to be a strong “chaser,” navigating off-ball screens effectively and staying attached to his man in different actions. Depending on who the fifth starter is, he likely will be the one the Lakers put on speedy guards.
Luka’s effort has increased and is better than his reputation suggests as he led the Lakers in deflections last season, but he still has major room for improvement. With a slimmer frame, there’s optimism for more consistent investment.
With LeBron out the door, they are the two leaders, and setting the tone begins with them.
Pelinka stressed that he built this roster through the prism of what Luka needs and Redick’s basketball philosophies. Adding Kessler and moving toward a younger, more athletic roster should shift the defense from passive to more active.
“With this group, probably the first time in my three years here that I feel like the pieces actually fit together,” Redick said.
You can follow Raj on X at @RajChipalu.
