Lakers News: LA's Defense Hitting A New Level With Jarred Vanderbilt In The Lineup

The Los Angeles frontcourt is looking lethal as the playoffs approach.

The secret headliner of Los Angeles Lakers team vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka's many moves leading up to the February 9th trade deadline this season just might be a guy who's currently averaging 7.9 points a game.

Newly-minted Lakers starting power forward Jarred Vanderbilt has already proven himself to be a critical upgrade for LA on defense. Yours truly expected him to really help shore up the club's interior presence, but I was not anticipating that he would be such a versatile defender, capable of effectively guarding four positions on the hardwood.

Jovan Buha of The Athletic believes the Lakers can make some noise in the postseason thanks to the team's upgraded defense, which has been tops in the NBA since LA's first post-trade deadline deal. Los Angeles did play on February 9th, but none of the players the club had added on the 8th or 9th (i.e. D'Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Vanderbilt, Mo Bamba, or, uh, Davon Reed) had yet to be cleared to suit up for the team.

Buha considers starting wings Austin Reaves and Troy Brown Jr. and bench point guard Dennis Schröder to be the club's strongest defenders along the wing, while the athleticism and size of new additions like Vanderbilt, forward Rui Hachimura and now-injured backup center Mo Bamba have emerged as huge defensive additions for Los Angeles in guarding rival bigs.

Vanderbilt is invariable singled out for having the biggest positive influence on LA defensively, thanks in large part to his terrific two-man play alongside star center Anthony Davis. In that dynamic duo's minutes together, the Lakers are permitting opposing clubs to score just 108.6 points per 100 possessions. Buha notes that, if taken across the course of a full game, that figure would be tops in the NBA.

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