The Los Angeles Lakers were flying high at the start of the season, but have stumbled a bit lately, losing three of their last four. A lot has been said about what has gone wrong, and Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green has now shared his thoughts on the Lakers on The Draymond Green Show.
“When I think about the Lakers, I think they’re a damn good offensive team,” Green said. “Defensively, they’ve needed to be better. They haven’t defended in transition well. In this league, everybody’s running, pushing the speed. The pace, the tempo of these games are crazy. So, if you’re not getting back in transition, it’s going to be tough to compete in this league, and I think that’s their biggest deficiency right now.
“Overall, I think they got a good team,” Green added. “… You all know the importance that I feel about the defensive end. So, I think if they can’t figure it out defensively, it’s going to be a tough year and they’ll start to go the wrong way than what they were doing. But if they can figure it out defensively, they got the weapons on the offensive end, that’s for sure.”
Green, like everyone else, believes defense is the issue, and he thinks it is in transition where the 20-10 Lakers are struggling the most. A lot of that just comes down to effort. This is not a team that’s full of great athletes, and when you get a bit lazy and don’t run back in a hurry, your team pays the price.
The Lakers’ 117.4 defensive rating ranks 23rd in the NBA. They’re going to fall well short of achieving their goals for this season if they don’t get better on that end of the floor.
At the start of the season, Green had named the Lakers as one of the five real contenders for the title this season, along with the Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets, and Los Angeles Clippers. A lot has changed since then, and the 35-year-old gave his updated list on this episode.
“As of right now, I mean, you can axe the Clippers off that list,” Green stated. “They have struggled mightily, and they’re right now 9-21, maybe 10-21, but they’ve struggled pretty bad, and you don’t know what they’re going to do at the trade deadline. I read something that said they’re trying to figure out whether they’re buyers or sellers.
“If they’re sellers, obviously you can’t compete,” Green continued. “If they’re buyers, we’ll have to see. But right now, they are not a contender. I still think the Nuggets are a contender. I still think the Thunder are obviously a contender. The Lakers, they’re a fringe. If they can’t figure out the defensive end, you can’t contend. But if they can figure out the defensive end, we know they have the offensive firepower. But they got to figure out that defense. Right now, they’re on the fringe, but not quite a real contender.
“And then the Warriors, we are 16-15,” Green said. “Can’t say you’re a real contender at 16-15. However, I think it’s starting to come together for us. And I think for us, the one thing that stands out is we have a great defense. What struggled is our offense, and now our offense is starting to turn a corner. Great defense, top-two defense in the league, you can contend with that.
“We’re not a serious contender right now because of the record,” Green added. “We’re not even a playoff team right now. But down the line, I think the Warriors are returning to your list of serious contenders. However, adding to this list, San Antonio has to be on your list of serious contenders.
You certainly can’t accuse Green of being biased after removing the Warriors from the list. He has also admitted they are a fading dynasty, but is backing them to turn things around eventually in this campaign.
Green has also changed his mind on the San Antonio Spurs. He had stated at the start of the campaign that the Spurs looked good, but he didn’t have them as a true contender. They have managed to turn the doubters into believers by going 3-0 against this Thunder juggernaut.
The Spurs are now second in the West with a 23-9 record and will make noise in the postseason. As for the Thunder, they are still atop the standings with a 28-5 record. The defending champions have had trouble against the Spurs, but no one else.
The 22-10 Nuggets are the only other team Green views as a serious contender, but he said this before Nikola Jokic went down with a scary-looking injury against the Miami Heat on Monday. A report has surfaced stating Jokic has just suffered a hyperextension, and if true, then the Nuggets should be just fine.
So, we’re just looking at three teams as of now. Green doesn’t consider anyone in the East to be a true contender, and that was the case back then, too. He praised the 24-8 Detroit Pistons, the 23-9 New York Knicks, and the 19-12 Boston Celtics, but refused to put any of them along with the Thunder, Nuggets, and Spurs.
