Chandler Parsons has had a Dirk-like effect on the Lakers
Following the Lakers' 112-100 victory over the Utah Jazz, their third straight win, the Purple and Gold are 1.5 games out of the 8th seed in the playoffs. The triumph also pushed the team back over .500 since the Day 90 trades at 12-11, and gave them their most season victories of the CSL era at 26, with 16 contests to go. The surge in respectability, not seen since the early days of DeMar DeRozan, has largely been the result of the players they picked up in trades this season, as they installed a full-court press game and changed from a DeRozan-focused offense to a balanced spread of scorers.
It starts with Chandler Parsons, who leads the team in Player of the Game Awards over the last 23 games with 4. He's averaging a career high 19.1 points, and while his overall efficiency is down from what he did in Sactown earlier this year, he's hitting a career 42.8% of his shots from 3 point range, functioning as the team's best distance gunner when opponents opt to zone. His defense has been a mix as well - his drive stop rate has crashed to 88.7%, but he's forcing 2.5 turnovers and improved his PA/SF ratio from 0.99 to 0.95 after moving south from Sacramento.
Shabazz Napier is rewarding the front office love with improved play
It may come as a surprise, but Shabazz Napier is second in team PotG awards during the stretch, racking up 3 best of. One of the front office's favorite players, the coaches have been working on his shooting form. Thus far the improvement has been marginal - 38.1% overall, but that includes a better than Timberwolf 30.7% from 3 point range and 44.6% inside the arc, suggesting that the continued improvement will come. He's picked up his game overall, with 13.4 points, 6.6 assists and a 2 A/TO ratio. Many have said he's not ideal to run the point, and that's likely true - hence a probable shift to 6th man combo guard should he re-sign in the offseason.
But the instigator of the pressure game has definitely been bringing it on defense, with 2.18 steals a game in purple and gold, raising his TOFC to 2.9, and despite scoffing at his defense, he's still posting a blistering 0.88 PA/SF at the 1. The Lakers are somewhat fortunate that this is a stacked free agency class, because there's hope that they may be able to bring him back at an affordable rate, given his flaws and his need for much work still to be done on his shooting.
The Quiet One: Victor Oladipo (L)
You know how there's some guys who GMs and scouts around the league rave about, but whom the average CSL fan doesn't see the hype around? That's Victor Oladipo, who nearly every front office in the league would love to get their hands on. While he doesn't have that much acclaim in Los Angeles relative to some of the other players, a look at his Purple and Gold stats show just how right insiders are: 14.5 points on 48.1% shooting, with an eye-popping 2.5 steals and 3 TOFC a game. That rate would put him right up there with defensive stalwart Okaro White in thefts per contest, tied for second behind Kemba Walker's 2.7. And no, you're not misreading that - combined, the Lakers' new backcourt themselves alone is averaging 5.9 turnovers a game this season, and it's higher than that in Lakerdom. Oladipo's also elevated his drive stop rate to 70.2%, even before his planned diet program this offseason, though his PA/SF is tottering dangerously close to the 1 line at 0.98. He also has 2 Player of the Game honors with his new team.
Everyone loves Julius Randle's post game
Much like the Parsons for T.J. McConnell and a future first trade, the move that brought Julius Randle and the Pacers' 1st this season to L.A. for Nik Stauskas was met with considerable skepticism. But since changing from East to West coast, Randle has finally proven he's a legitimate double-double machine, averaging 14.7 points and 10 rebounds a contest on 53.2% shooting. His rebounding rate has jumped up to 19.2% for the year when he moved over to starting center and just picked up his second career Player of the Game award in the victory over the Jazz, posting 26 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals on 11 of 16 shooting. He's also netted 13 doubles in those 23 games - a 56.5% double-double rate that puts him in elite company:
Top 10 Double-Double Rate Season Leaders
1. Kevin Love: 70.7%
2. Greg Monroe: 70.4%
3. Derrick Favors: 56.9%
4. Anthony Davis: 56.9%
5. Julius Randle: 56.5% (with Lakers)
6. Jonas Valanciunas (56.1%)
7. Dwight Howard (54.5%)
8. Tristan Thompson (50%)
9. Blake Griffin (47.6%)
10. Kevin Durant (46.3%)
"We're encouraging Julius to be more aggressive in the paint and take more shots," Lakers head coach Terry Stotts said. "It's been working so far, and we think he has the upside to become an even more scoring minded big man, so we'll continue to push him to maximize his production."
Randle's PER is a team high 18.9 for the season, compared to Parsons' 17.6, suggesting that, flawed metric aside, there's reason to believe he's actually been the team's most valuable player, Parsons' scoring and PotG awards aside. What's certain is that there is little chance he leaves the team, ever, even if he eventually shifts to PF, should the Lakers opt to go for a true center with one of their two first round picks.
Defensively, his TOFC have gone up to 1.0, and while his PA/SF has slightly worsened, it's still strong for the season at 0.88, despite having to go up against much bigger players at the 5 - he even hanged 20 points, 8 rebounds on 11 of 18 shooting on the Lakers' former rock star in Walter Tavares.
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