The Lakers lost again to the Spurs today, and they have now suffered a three-game losing streak. The Lakers didn't perform well some time ago, so they made a deal not long ago, trading Russell to the Nets in exchange for Finney Smith and Milton.

I thought that this trade would save the Lakers and make the Lakers' defense stronger. Maybe the team will be reborn. But in fact, no, after trading Russell, the Lakers lost four of six games, and the team did not make substantial changes. As a result, many fans also cheered for Russell, and it turned out that Russell played the role of a backstabber before the Lakers, and his departure did not make the Lakers better. The Lakers' defense is still very poor.

The Lakers management should be the most embarrassed now, because they can't find out what is wrong with the Lakers at the moment. It can be proven definitively that it is not Russell's problem at the moment, so whose problem is it? In fact, it is clear from watching the Lakers' games that their defense has always been very bad, and their defense has not been able to maintain a high standard since the breakup of the championship team in 2020. It's not that there is a problem in one link, but that there are problems in multiple links.

For example, when the Lakers are defending on the outside, many players are often broken by the opponent in one step, and they can't block the first line of defense. When the opponent bursts inside, Davis will face a lot of pressure to help defend. And the Lakers themselves don't have enough reserves of interior centers, they don't have good rim protection ability, except for Davis. And the Lakers also have very poor communication in terms of overall defense, including the slow defensive positioning during transitions, and in general, the Lakers are a problem with the defensive system.

Of course, this is also related to the defensive ability of some players, for example, the defensive ability of some positions in the Lakers team is really difficult to be satisfactory. Reaves is a very poor defender, but you can't afford not to use him because he's an important player on the offensive end. Knecht has the same problem, very poor on the defensive end, but you have to rely on him on the offensive end to shoot three-pointers. This makes it very difficult for Redick to blindly pursue offense and neglect defense, and focusing on defense may neglect offense. They don't have a lot of players who can both attack and defend like the Thunder, and the Celtics still do. The Lakers' players are not enough for their versatility.