A few days before the season opener, Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick talked about how the team has to instill habits for a championship defense. For years, the mantra has been “defense wins championships.” Well, last year, the Lakers had the 17th-best defense in the league. There was a stretch of almost a month when they were the best defensive team in the NBA. It shows they are more than capable of playing great defense, but how do they get there?
This offseason, they got a few good individual defenders. But can their team defense get to a title-worthy level? Let’s talk about the potentially best defenders on the Lakers’ roster, their strengths and their weaknesses.
Projecting the Los Angeles Lakers’ Five Best Defenders
For the Lakers to have any chance of competing for a championship, they need to have at least a top-10 defense. The potential is there, so let’s take a look at their possible best defenders.
Jarred Vanderbilt
Jarred Vanderbilt is probably one of the best defenders the Lakers have on their roster. The challenge is his offensive production. Vando is a perimeter defender who can effectively guard two through four. He has the length, quickness, and skill set to switch onto guards and disrupt the offense.
Vando shouldn’t defend guys bigger than him like he did during the 2024–25 season. He is best used guarding scoring wings who do not have tight handles—think Devin Booker, Franz Wagner, Kevin Durant, and similar players. During the 2022-23 season, he was at his best. But after the foot surgery, he lost a step. It will be interesting to see how Redick uses Vando, as he is better at guarding guards than Jake LaRavia. More on him below.
Jake LaRavia
LaRavia has battled injuries through his first three seasons in the league. If he stays healthy, he has the potential to be a younger alternative to Dorian Finney-Smith. Last season, Finney-Smith was guarding wings, something that LaRavia has the skills to do. And unlike Vanderbilt, he can shoot from behind the arc, with a career 37.2% efficiency.
It will be interesting to see how Redick uses LaRavia and Vando. If he likes, he can throw both of them out there and disrupt the opponent’s offense. The challenge is finding shooting with those two on the floor alongside Luka Doncic and LeBron James.
One thing LaRavia does well is put in the effort. While he is not the defender that Finney-Smith is, he has the size to use on wings and big guards. He hustles, puts in the effort, and is always active.
Deandre Ayton
When people think of a rim-protecting big, they surely do not think of Deandre Ayton. He is not the best defensive center, but there are positives to his game. For starters, he doesn’t commit silly fouls. Through five games in the preseason, he fouled a total of nine times. That is fewer than two fouls per game. Yes, some players can beat him, but he doesn’t foul them when they do.
On this Lakers roster, Ayton’s role will be to grab rebounds and block shots. Do not expect him to guard pick-and-roll sets at a high level, but he can probably average double-digit rebounds. During the preseason, he averaged nine per game and almost two blocks. Slightly increasing those numbers will do wonders for the Lakers.
Marcus Smart
Luka Doncic personally lobbied and called Marcus Smart to get him on the Lakers’ roster. But the former Defensive Player of the Year is not at the level he was during his Boston Celtics days. The past two seasons, he battled plenty of injuries and played in only 54 games in total. It is clear he has lost a step.
Smart is still a big guard who the Lakers can throw out there, but he can no longer defend the likes of Ja Morant, Steph Curry, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and similar players effectively. And now that he cannot lock them down like he did years ago, he is more prone to fouls while trying to take charges. The former DPOY still has the physicality and high IQ to be a factor on the defensive end.
LeBron James
Despite his injuries and age, LeBron James might still be one of the best defenders on the Lakers’ roster. Now that the team has Ayton, they might preserve his energy on offense and ask more of him on the defensive end.
If they need a quick two- to three-minute stretch of lockdown defense, few players in this league can do it like James. The problem with doing that is that it will take a lot of energy, and he might not have it on the offensive end.
It will be one of the challenges for Redick to best utilize LBJ, and, of course, how much of the new role LeBron accepts. Fans might remember Grant Hill as one of the better defenders during his last years. He finished 7th and 14th in DPOY voting at ages 38 and 39. If the Lakers use James in the same role, he can certainly deliver.
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