Could Vando Fix Lakers’ Defense Without Sacrificing Top-5 Offense?

That’s the question that will ultimately decide whether the Jekyll/Hyde Los Angeles Lakers can survive the inevitable Play-In Tournament and pull off another miracle playoff run and overcome the champion Denver Nuggets.

The Lakers surrounding James and Davis with three offense-first role players who can shoot the three worked well enough to turn their season around but now they need to fix their defense to be able to go any further.
Since January 15, when Darvin Ham reinstated D’Angelo Russell as the team’s starting point guard, the Lakers transformed their offense into a top-5 juggernaut but at the cost of seeing their defense dropping to bottom-5.

Obviously, the Lakers’ moves to boost the offense of their starting lineup was a rousing success but went too far. The Lakers would have been smarter to start at least one role player who could play good defense.
Fortunately, they’ll get a chance to fix this issue soon as Gabe Vincent, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Cam Reddish get healthy and are ready to play over the next couple of weeks, hopefully in time to impact the Lakers’ playoffs.

Right now, the Lakers appear doomed to having to win a playoff spot via the Play-In Tournament. With just 14 games left in the regular season, the best the Lakers can realistically hope for is to end up with #7 or #8 in West.
At best, the Lakers would have to win a play-in game to get to the playoffs and, at worst, two play-in games. Ideally, the Lakers want to win the #7 seed to avoid having to play the champion Denver Nuggets in the first round.

Let’s look at why the Russell/Reaves backcourt won’t work, the chance Vando will return before playoffs, whether he should start or come off the bench, and whether he’ll be the difference-maker the Lakers need.

Why Russell/Reaves Backcourt Won’t Work

While the D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves backcourt has elevated the Lakers’ offense to top-5 NBA status, the duo’s defensive liabilities have been a major problem, allowing opponents to average over 120 points per game.

Since January 15th when Darvin Ham reinstated D’Angelo Russell as the team’s starting point guard, the Lakers have posted an elite offensive rating of 119.1, second in the league behind the Celtics record-setting 123.4.
The problem for the Lakers is that their defensive rating during this stretch fell to 118.2, which ranks 28th out of 30 NBA teams and which reduces the team’s overall net rating since January 15th to just +1.0, which ranks 14th.

Surrounding their two superstars three offense-first players who could shoot the three transformed the Lakers into an offensive juggernaut but went too far and brutally exposed the team’s injury-weakened defense.
The Lakers desperately need better point-of-attack defense and rebounding and hope Jarred Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent, and Cam Reddish will return soon and help them fix their defense down the stretch and in the playoffs.

While Ham does not like to change his starting lineups, there’s little doubt the Lakers need to replace one of their three offense-first starting role players with a defense-first starting role player to fix their poor defense.
Vincent will be the first defense-first role player who will soon be available, followed shortly afterward by Vanderbilt and then Reddish. Ham will likely wait to make any change in the starting lineup until Vanderbilt is ready.

The Lakers know they cannot win a championship with a defensively challenged Russell and Reaves backcourt. Once Vanderbilt, Vincent, or Reddish is healthy, Austin Reaves will likely move back to the bench.

Chance Vando Will Return Before Playoffs?

While Jarred Vanderbilt has not yet been cleared for non-contact work, the Lakers still remain hopeful he will be able to return to action sometime before April to give them the needed defensive push to make the playoffs.

Before spraining his right foot on February 1st, Vando had been playing the best basketball of his career. In the 10 games since January 15, he averaged 9.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 2.2 steals, and 0.2 blocks in 22.7 mpg.
Jarred’s stats were up from last year’s 7.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.2 blocks in 24.0 mpg. His 109.4 defensive rating since January 15th was the team-best and better than last season’s good 112.1.

Vando was originally projected to be re-evaluated early January. While he has not been cleared for non-contact or contact work at this point, he is no longer wearing a boot and could be able to return in a couple of weeks.
The Lakers essentially have four weeks and 14 games remaining in the 2023–24 regular season, with 7 or half of the games the last two weeks of March and the other 7 or half of the games in the first two weeks of April.

Besides being 6' 10," Jarred Vanderbilt is the best defender of the Lakers three defense-first role players. Vincent and Reddish are better point-of-attack defenders than Russell and Reaves but just not legit starter quality.
Vando is also the best offensive player of the three and also can point to the great success of last season’s run to the West conference finals to support his candidacy to replace Austin Reaves in the Lakers’ starting lineup.

The Lakers hope Vando will be ready to return by the end of March, which would give him two weeks and 7 games to get ready for play-in tournament, where the Lakers will have to win 2 games just to get into the playoffs.

Should Vando Start or Come Off the Bench?

The quickest and surest way for the Lakers to upgrade their starting lineup defense would be to turn starting shooting guard Austin Reaves into a sixth man and go big by replacing him with POA defender Jarred Vanderbilt.

Replacing the 6' 5" Austin Reaves with the 6' 10" Jarred Vanderbilt would not only improve the Lakers’ backcourt defense but also dramatically increase their front court size to help their defensive and offensive rebounding.
Moving Austin Reaves to lead guard off the bench will give the Lakers’ second unit desperately needed offensive firepower while allowing Vando to upgrade the starting lineup’s point-of-attack defense and rebounding.

Replacing Reaves with Vando would give the Lakers a jumbo starting lineup with 6' 5" Russell at point, 6' 10" Vanderbilt at shooting guard, 6' 8" James at small forward, 6' 8" Hachimura at power forward, and 6' 10" Davis at center.
This big lineup would not only allow the Lakers to ‘switch everything’ on the perimeter on defense, which is a better fit for the drop coverage Ham likes to play, but would also dramatically improve L.A.’s 3-point defense.

Playing shooting guard is actually a better fit for Vando than power forward. At shooting guard, Vando will have a dramatic size advantage over whomever guards him, which should help his contributions on offense.
That would help the Lakers control their defensive boards and limit the number of second chance opportunities they give up. Vando gives the Lakers a second elite defender to complement Anthony Davis on defense.

While Vando will likely come off the bench when he first returns from injury, look for the Lakers to move him into the starting shooting guard role once he’s 100% recovered from the foot sprain and in shape to play.

Could Vando Be Lakers’ Difference Maker?

Vando is the only player on the Lakers with the defensive talent to be the difference maker who can help the Lakers win two Play-In games to create a first-round rematch of last season’s West Conference Finals vs. Nuggets.

The Los Angeles Lakers starting lineup desperately needs a strong point-of-attack perimeter defender to pair with offense-first point guard D’Angelo Russell to restore a reasonable balance between offense and defense. Swapping offense-first Reaves for defense-first Vanderbilt gives the Lakers an elite defensive stopper with the size, quickness, and athleticism to guard opposing team’s stars like Steph Curry, Devin Booker, or Luka Doncic.

If Vando can produce 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists per game while defending opponents’ top scorers, the Lakers would enjoy a better offense and defense balance in both their starting lineup and bench rotations.
Instead of having a top-5 offense and bottom-5 defense, the Lakers goal would be to generate a top-10 ranking both on offense and defense. That would give them the consistent play at both ends that they’ve been lacking.

While having Vincent and Reddish back for limited minutes will help, the key to transforming the Lakers starting lineup defense is Jarred Vanderbilt, who is the only role player on the Lakers who can be the difference maker.
We saw back in late January when Vando was in full stride that the Lakers defense could be a top-10. By replacing Reaves with Vando, the Lakers can not only fix their starting lineup defense but also their bench offense.

Jarred Vanderbilt is the only player on the Los Angeles Lakers current roster who is a difference maker capable of fixing the team’s starting lineup defense without sacrificing what’s now the NBA’s second best team offense.

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