Los Angeles Lakers: 3 ways to improve after the NBA trade deadline
By Amaar Burton
Protect the basketball
The Lakers rank 25th in the league in ball security, committing 14.7 turnovers per game.
In Saturday’s win at the Golden State Warriors, the Lakers turned the ball over a season-high 24 times. That turned what had been a blowout into a nail-biter before LeBron — who had committed seven turnovers — finally hit a dagger 3-pointer to shut down the pesky Warriors.
Getting away with a victory despite 24 turnovers can happen when you’re playing one of the worst teams in the league. It’s probably not going to happen in playoff games against teams like the Clippers, the Houston Rockets or the Denver Nuggets — who are either good defensive teams, good in transition after forcing turnovers, or both.
Davis and Lebron are in All Star mode and the lack of focus shows in the turnovers. And the troops are following that lead. Nobody is stepping up #LakeShow guess its nice were winning though
— *Finsider* (@B_Rogers11) February 9, 2020
A lot of it of course falls on the shoulders of LeBron, who is L.A.’s primary ball-handler and offensive facilitator.
Only four players in the league are averaging more turnovers than LeBron’s 4.0 per game: Trae Young, James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Luka Doncic.
On one hand, a high turnover rate is to be expected from any player who has such a heavy ball-handling responsibility. It’s not a coincidence that everyone on the top-5 turnover list is an All-Star this season. Turnovers are just part of the game for them.
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LeBron leads the league in assists (10.8 apg) and ranks 12th in scoring (25.0 ppg). But he is still prone to powering into the lane and coughing the ball up when there’s not a good shot to take. As great of a passer as he is, sometimes he tries a pass that is too hot for a teammate to handle, or it just misses the mark. He needs to tighten that up.
Outside of LeBron, the Lakers have two true point guards: Rajon Rondo and Quinn Cook. Rondo is a solid backup and an amazing passer. Cook doesn’t play a lot, and would’ve certainly fallen out of the rotation if the Lakers were able to sign Collison.
So there isn’t a bevy of great playmakers on the Lakers. Another one would be nice, however, the rest of the roster doesn’t need to morph into a crew of Andre Millers overnight. Just be adequate in that department down the stretch.