The Los Angeles Lakers roster looks a lot different now than it did at the start of the season as they made a variety of trades ahead of the deadline in hopes of getting back in contention.
Among the acquisitions the Lakers made over the past few weeks are Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Mo Bamba and Davon Reed, replacing Russell Westbrook, Kendrick Nunn, Patrick Beverley, Damian Jones, Thomas Bryant and Juan Toscano-Anderson.
One thing that stands out about the new-look roster is that the Lakers have more size. They brought in both Hachimura, Vanderbilt and Bamba to play big minutes in the frontcourt and help with rim protection while Russell and Beasley add length in the backcourt that wasn’t previously there.
This is something that stood out to Anthony Davis when a lot of the new players debuted in Saturday night’s win over the Golden State Warriors, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Adding those guys, adding Malik [Beasley] who is like 6’4″ or 6’5″, Austin [Reaves], all of these guys, we have a bigger group now. It helps with our defense and things of that nature. But as far as the frontcourt, yeah, Vando, Wenyen, even Rui at times, Bron is coming back, so playing big has definitely looked good for us. Having two bigs on the floor seems to work. Obviously coaches will continue to test it out and see what works, but it looked good tonight.”
Davis has always been a big proponent of size, stating on many occasions that he would prefer not to play center. Because of the Lakers’ previous roster makeup and lack of shooting though, Davis has been forced into playing the five a majority of his minutes this season.
These new additions should help alleviate the pressure off Davis, however. Because of the added shooting with Russell and Beasley, the Lakers can play bigger lineups and not worry about their spacing being messed up.
Additionally, both Bamba and Vanderbilt provide spacing as well, and that’s in addition to their defense and rebounding that will help Davis out defensively.
It remains to be seen how things will play out on the court, but what is clear to Davis and the rest of the NBA world is that this new-look roster makes a lot more sense than the previous one on paper which could be a scary sight if they build some chemistry.
Davis already in constant communication with Russell
Building that chemistry will take some time, but that can be expedited if the Lakers’ players are committed and constantly communicating. That appears to be the case as Davis revealed that he and Russell have been talking nonstop since the trade, building what should be a lethal pick-and-roll combo.
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