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Why Lakers might have to trade Talen Horton-Tucker

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Because of his salary, Horton-Tucker alone couldn’t net a worthy return player (the Lakers are about $1.74 million below the hard cap), but he could be packaged with a group of low-salary guys (Dudley, McKinnie, Matthews), or KCP — as long as high-quality perimeter help or rim protection was coming back to L.A.

For instance, the Lakers could offer him for George Hill, if the sharpshooting point guard is not bought out by OKC (historically, Sam Presti prefers trades over buyouts).

Or, if the Lakers are set on PJ Tucker ($7.96 million) but don’t want to part ways with Kuzma, they could offer THT for the hard-nosed 3-and-specialist, which might pique Houston’s interest.

Mo Bamba has been rumored as a target, too. The center has yet to live up to his draft position (no. 6 in 2018) in three seasons with the Orlando Magic, but he’s a 22-year old seven-footer with a 7’10(!) wingspan who has averaged 14.2 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 3.3 blocks per 36 minutes for his career. Not bad.

The Lakers could, similarly, offer a package centered around Horton-Tucker. In this case, at least, they are acquiring youth for youth.

Or, if the Lakers feel particularly desperate for front-court insurance and paint defense, the Sacramento Kings would likely accept this deal for Hassan Whiteside (20.4 points, 14.2 rebounds, 3.2 blocks per-36), though it may make Laker Nation squirm. (Of course, low-level draft pick compensation could be included in any of these fake trades.)

Ultimately, the Lakers’ best bet is to ride out the current storm until Davis recovers and use one of the extra roster spots on a buyout candidate in the meantime. Hopefully, AD will return in time to re-assess the roster ahead of the deadline, when the Lakers should be less fatigued following their nine-day All-Star break.

If by then, Pelinka still feels like he needs to add reinforcements via trade, it’s hard to envision a scenario in which he nabs an impact player without including Horton-Tucker in a deal.

Just something to keep in mind.

Lakers’ Championship Team Defense Blitzes Lillard and Shuts Down Blazers

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The champion Los Angeles Lakers may have rediscovered their swarming championship team defense in the second half last night as they blitzed Damian Lillard and shut down the Portland Trail Blazers in a 102–93 win.

Besides ending a season longest 4-game losing streak, the win showed the Lakers were still capable of playing the caliber of defense that won their 17th championship despite missing their defensive anchor Anthony Davis. That was something NBA pundits had started to question as the Lakers had lost 5 of the 6 games without Anthony Davis while posting an 18th ranked defensive rating of 112.8 and watching their #1 defensive rating decline.

Buoyed by the return of point guard Dennis Schroder, the Lakers finally displayed the attacking and trapping defense that was the trademark of last season’s championship run in the bubble and had been MIA this season. After struggling to contain Lillard in the first half as he exploded for 24 points, the Lakers tightened their doubles and blitzes in a second half and held Dame to 11 points and the Trail Blazers as a team to just 36 points.

It was the kind of dominating second half defense the Lakers unleashed on high-powered scorers like James Harden, Nikola Jokic, Jimmy Butler, and the same Damian Lillard during their elite championship run in the bubble. Noteworthy, it was also the kind of defensive performance that had earned the Lakers’ the #1 defensive rating all season long but had been completely missing during their last 10 games which included 5 losses and 3 OT wins.

The Lakers defensive rating last night was a stellar 98.9 for the game and 78.3 for the second half. The performance lowered their leading defensive rating to 105.8 and extended their lead over second place Jazz to 1.5 points. Last night’s defensive performance also ended a 10-game streak where the Lakers defensive rating had declined to a 10th rated 109.4 and a 6-game stretch without Anthony Davis were it declined to an 18th rated 112.8.

While the Blazers were missing key players, last night’s performance was by far the Lakers’ best defensive game without AD and showed their ‘attack dog’ swarming, doubling, rotating team defense was not dependent on him. One of the keys to the Lakers’ great defense was LeBron James assuming Anthony Davis’ role and responsibility as the team’s defensive anchor with 10 rebounds, 5 deflections, 4 steals, 3 blocks, and 1 drawn charge.

It’s easy to forget what a major part of the Lakers’ defensive dominance in the playoffs was LeBron James’ elite individual defense, where he matched Anthony Davis’ 1.2 steals and his 0.9 blocks per game was team second best. Last night was a reminder 36-year old LeBron James can still dominate at both ends of the court when needed. James’ mantra has always been to do whatever the Lakers need to . Last night, it was dominant defense.

As a team, the Lakers grabbed 37 defensive rebounds, deflected 19 passes, made 9 steals, and blocked 7 shots with the aggressive swarming ‘attack dog’ defense that dominated as the Lakers won 16 of their 21 playoff games. They held the Blazers to 19 points in the third quarter and 17 in the fourth quarter, highlighted by a dominant 18 minute stretch covering the third quarter and first six minutes of the fourth when they allowed just 23 points

The Lakers’ defensive heroics were teamwide. Caruso had 6 deflections, 6 defensive rebounds, and 2 steals. Schroder had 5 deflections, 3 defensive rebounds, and 1 steal. Horton-Tucker had 5 defensive boards and 2 blocks. Kuzma had 6 defensive boards, Harrell had 4 defensive boards, 1 block, and 1 charge drawn, Morris had 1 deflection, 3 defensive boards, and 1 steal, KCP had 2 deflections and 1 steal. Gasol had 1 defensive board and 1 block.

Individual player defensive ratings were also stellar for the game. Top defensive ratings for the game were 78.3 by Montrezl Harrell, followed by 87.3 by LeBron James, 91.2 by Talen Horton-Tucker, 94.9 by Alex Caruso. Markieff Morris posted 97.8, Wes Matthew 100.0, Kyle Kuzma’s 104.4, and Dennis Schroder 104.9. The only Lakers with subpar ratings last night were Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with 112.2 and Marc Gasol with 120.0.

The Lakers have three games before the All-Star break: Warriors on Sunday, Suns next Tuesday, and Kings next Wednesday. If they can play the same level of defense as last night, they’ll have a good chance to win all three.