Los Angeles Lakers: 3 big questions heading into 2019-20

3. Who’s defending point guards?

As someone who adheres to the “positions don’t matter” agenda, I value Frank Vogel’s initiative to run LeBron James at point guard. It doesn’t really matter, but for nominal purposes, it’s the correct move.

James has been running the 1 essentially his whole career, but now the traditionalists can see it fitting together better. The front office acquired a ton of off-ball wings, which is exactly what you should do for a LeBron-centric offense.

Defensively though, things could get murky. Danny Green is an excellent defender, so he could take on most of the point-of-attack assignments. However, the Raptors on the whole were an otherworldly unit last year. A bit of regression may be coming with this roster.

Avery Bradley has experience handling opposing point guards and his size dictates that he should stay on that end of the positional spectrum.

But at the same time, he got that reputation in Boston and hasn’t quite replicated what made him so effective with the Celtics in the two years since being traded from there. Being traded to three teams over two years doesn’t help his case.

Rajon Rondo will play a huge role in this way too, especially when James sits (so the offense doesn’t cramp).

However, his production as a point-preventer doesn’t back up the reputation; neither New Orleans or the Los Angeles Lakers were any better on defense with Rondo on the court.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is an option, as he often covered for Reggie Jackson in Detroit. His impact stats as a Laker aren’t very useful considering the context, but he was fine with the Pistons, often taking on the toughest assignments and not sucking in the process.

Naturally, this will all go to hell when crunch time and the playoffs arrive regardless. Defensive versatility is imperative in today’s game, and opposing attackers will sniff out the runt of the Lakers’ litter anyway.

For the long grind that comes prior though, the way the Lakers defend opponents will be intriguing to watch.