3 major takeaways from Lakers preseason

The Lakers finished their preseason action on Thursday night, losing to the Phoenix Suns.

LA went 2-4, but the record doesn’t matter in the preseason. With that said, let’s break down the major takeaways from the Lakers’ preseason action.

Anthony Davis is a DPOY frontrunner

Anthony Davis is one of the premier defensive players in the NBA. Davis has often been in Defensive Player of the Year conversations but has never won the award. In the 2019-20 season, many, including Davis, thought he should have won the award over Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Since that season, Davis has struggled to stay healthy. Davis is a force to be dealt with, especially on the defensive end.

Davis had five blocks in the first quarter of the Lakers’ final preseason game. He is a dominant rim protector and alters many shots in the paint.

Davis should be the frontrunner for the Defensive Player of the Year award this season and has a good shot at winning the award if he stays healthy.

The Lakers have three-point shooting

Three-point shooting has been one of the Lakers’ weaknesses over the past few seasons. LeBron James and Davis thrive at getting to the paint, forcing defenses to focus on protecting the rim.

Having three-point shooters around James and Davis will make the offense much more potent. There were glimpses of this after the trade deadline last season. Players like D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, and Rui Hachimura were consistent three-point shooters for LA.

Rob Pelinka and the front office added more depth and shooting to the roster this offseason.

Forward Taurean Prince is a career 37.2% three-point shooter, while center Christian Wood is a career 37.9% three-point shooter. These two additions add consistent shooting from behind the arc to the roster.

They also signed Gabe Vincent, who has improved as a three-point shooter over the past few seasons.

Davis has also improved his three-point shooting this offseason and showed in the preseason that he could return to being a solid shooter from distance.

The Lakers showed flashes of their shooting in the preseason, with 20 made threes against the Brooklyn Nets. This is a vast improvement from last season, where they did not have any games with 20 threes.

While it’s only the preseason, this gives the Lakers a glimpse of how the shooting will make their offense elite.

The Lakers have tremendous depth and lineup versatility

It is evident that the roster construction this offseason was to add quality depth to their rotation.

The Lakers began this roster construction at the trade deadline last season when they acquired Jarred Vanderbilt, Russell, and Hachimura. They were able to re-sign and extend their key players in free agency while adding quality depth on top of it.

The additions included Prince, Wood, Vincent, Jaxson Hayes, Cam Reddish, Jalen Hood-Schifino, and Maxwell Lewis. The Lakers have the continuity of their roster last season, with the added additions being great scheme fits in Darvin Ham’s system.

The starting lineup for Ham will be Russell, Reaves, James, and Davis, with the fifth starter not being announced. The starter will be one of Prince, Vanderbilt, or Hachimura. All three of these forwards would provide great depth and versatility.

The Lakers are in a good spot after the preseason. They are healthy, with the exception of Vanderbilt and Vincent, who are day-to-day.

LA rolls into the season with one of the deepest rosters in basketball and will have their first test on Tuesday when they take on the reigning champion Denver Nuggets.