By James Brown
12/08/2022, 10:42 PM
Trade rumours have surround the Lakers, especially the Kyrie Irving trade that would involve Westbrook. But the Lakers should try to do more than only pursue Irving, they should try to upgrade a defense that was in the bottom ten in almost every category including defensive rating, points allowed, and field goals percentage. If the Lakers want to be a competitive team again they should sign a defensive free agent to complement LeBron James ability.
Shaquille Harrison's hasn't been successful but he's coming off dominating in the G-League, earning Defensive Player of the Year honors after averaging 3.3 steals per game. He also put up 19.6 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and one three-pointer per game on 52.0% from the floor. Of course you can't compare the G-League to the NBA, but we've seen players with less success in this league have shots in the NBA, so why not Harrison.
Did the Lakers make a mistake spending on Lonnie Walker IV?
Do the Lakers really need this player in their future?
Harrison is an elite on-ball defender and a ball-hawk. The Lakers could use a guy willing to dive for the ball or run through screens on every single possession. Especially when you take into account Lakers best defender was Carmelo Anthony with a defensive rating of 114, but he's no longer in the team, true is a free agent and he could be back, but for now he's not. If the Lakers could add a defensive player that also could help with a couple of points they could be set.
Shaquille Harrison also bring some experience in the NBA as he have gone through the Phoenix Suns, the Chicago Bulls, Utah Jazz, Denver Nuggets and with the Brooklyn Nets. He have a 43% Free Goals percentage, shoots a 28% from three and has a 2.0 Defensive rebounds per game. He still not a top 5 defender, but he can definitely help a team that had one of the worst defense the past season and that probably was part of the reason they missed the playoffs.
Some fans have questioned Rob Pelinka after putting together an aging roster with not so many shooters around their stars. Those doubts were proven right from day one of the season, as most of their veterans dealt with nagging pains more often than not. He depends on whether he can land Kyrie or not, but time is running out to make some moves and try to retain LeBron James
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