The Lakeshow Review

The Lakers have had an eventful summer of Free Agency, to say the least. It hasn’t been spectacular, but they have managed to fill gaps on the roster, despite limited assets and cap space. Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart, Jake LaRavia and Jaxson Hayes are among the names added. It’s a solid mix of talent, considering that they did not have much cap space to start with, and many teams signed other players for much more. The Lakers will almost certainly be getting great value for their money spent. LA has done a good job addressing some glaring needs on the team. The main one of those being the starting center position. DeAndre Ayton will give the Lakers some much needed production on the frontcourt, seeing as how they played without a center during these last playoffs. Jake LaRavia is another young player with decent upside, who can shoot and score the ball at a high level. He will have a chance to flourish playing alongside the likes of Luka Dončić. A player like Marcus Smart will also provide leadership and perimeter defense, the latter of which the Lakers did not have much of last season. Overall these are some good moves that could give the team a boost next season.

Perimeter defense is an area where the Lakers greatly struggled last season. Particularly in the playoffs, where players such as Anthony Edwards and to some extent Jaden McDaniels had their way attacking LAs defense on the perimeter. The Lakers were punished on defensive on switches, when players like Rui Hachimura or LeBron James were tasked with containing the likes of Anthony Edwards in space. Much was made about the Lakers’ lack of interior presence on the defensive side, and while those critiques are accurate, an even larger problem, in my opinion, was LAs complete lack of defensive containment on the perimeter. LAs defense often was broke down off the dribble, which exposed their poor help defense as well as their lack of size in the paint. I’m of the belief that effective defense starts at the point of attack. To address this, the Lakers signed guard Marcus Smart. If healthy, Smart will surely help the Lakers in this aspect. He can still hound, harass and stay in front of matchups, which helps limit defensive breakdowns as well as the need to constantly rotate defensively. However, in my opinion, the player who will be most crucial to the team’s defensive success is arguably already on the roster. And that’s of course Jarred Vanderbilt.

Vando arrived in LA shortly after the trade deadline of 2023, and his impact was felt almost immediately. His defensive tenacity and all-out hustle helped ignite a late season playoff push, after being outside of the playoff picture prior to the trade deadline. For a while, late in the 2023 season, I felt as though Vando brought to the table a Dennis Rodman-like impact. He didn’t light up the box score, but provided a myriad of intangibles that made a positive impact. The steals, the turnovers, the hustle, the defensive motor; for a moment he was beginning to resemble that of a bigger Alex Caruso. He was a crucial part of the Lakers’ run to the Western Conference Finals that season.

Lately however, Vando’s impact seems to have diminished. Injuries have piled up, which have not only kept him out of action, but have also impeded him from working on his game during the offseason, further derailing his progress. He seemed to be getting back on track late during the 2024 season, and we were starting to see glimpses of his on-court impact once again. But a foot injury against Boston late during the season effectively sidelined him for the rest of the year, including the playoffs, where his absence against Denver was clearly felt. He spent much of that offseason rehabilitating, and wasn’t cleared to resume play until January of 2025. He wasn’t quite the same player last season, as his usual defensive spark wan’t all there.

For the first time in a moment, Vando seems to be in good health this off-season, and is said to be diligently working on his game. If he can come back healthy and duplicate the level of play that we’ve seen in the past, particularly during the latter half of 2023, he could potentially take LAs defense from merely good to great. Between Vando and Marcus Smart, the Lakers could receive a sizeable boost on the defensive end. One that will help them match up against the elite perimeter threats in the Western Conference. When healthy, Vando is an elite disruptor. He has the ability to stay in front of his man, as well as the instincts to wreak havoc on help defense. He’s an agitator with a plus defensive motor who can change the complexity of a game through his defensive effort. Unfortunately, injuries have plagued his productivity as well as his ability to have a positive impact on games. Fans are down on him, and rightfully so. But if he can come back healthy and recapture his level of play, it’ll be a gamechanger for LA. It’s not like there are many more options. The Lakers are currently capped out around the first apron, and Vando’s salary makes it so that he is somewhat unmovable. If only because other teams would be wary of taking back his salary (his contract runs until 2028 where he will make over $13M that season) given the injury history. With that said, Vando’s resurgence could be a vital in-house solution to one of LAs most glaring weaknesses. His availability and productivity could help take the team’s defense to the next level. Vando and Smart can offer the type of defensive outlook that the team lacked all of last season. Let’s hope we get more glimpses of that gamechanging ability in 2026. Go Lakers.