It is time for another rotation power rankings article, and this time there is a lot of movement. You can probably guess the top two players, but a lot of role players rose up the list, while a few dropped. Without further ado, here is the first rotation power ranking of 2020.
13. Troy Daniels– Daniels isn’t very good. Or, at least he isn’t on this team. He was brought in to be a shooter, but he doesn’t consistently hit shots. Outside of that, he can’t really do anything well. He should only see the court in absolute blowout games.
12. Quinn Cook– I had high hopes for Cook, and he’s been a massive disappointment. He doesn’t look confident at all when he’s out there, and he doesn’t really do anything well. There’s a reason he hasn’t gotten any minutes.
11. Rajon Rondo– Luckily for Rondo, there are two guards worse than him on the team. Unfortunately for Lakers fans, he somehow plays a lot of minutes. Rondo isn’t a good NBA player anymore. He’s touted as a smart player, but every single game he makes dumb play after dumb play. He makes a few good passes per game that makes him look a lot better than he actually is. Hopefully Rondo eventually falls out of the rotation, or is traded, because he just hurts the team when he plays.
10. Jared Dudley– Dudley rarely plays but when he does he’s usually good. He is a good three point shooter and smart defender. His current role on the team is to be a veteran leader and be a good teammate. He is doing a very good job in his role.
9. JaVale McGee– JaVale is a really solid player for this team. He does his job which is to catch lobs, occasionally make shots around the rim, and play decent defense. He’s good, and he rarely hurts the team when he’s out there.
8. Avery Bradley– Bradley has mostly struggled ever since he returned from injury. He is still a pesky defender, but his offense is incredibly inconsistent. He can’t shoot from three, and his mid range game is hit or miss. There’s hope that he plays his way back to where he was at the beginning of the season, but right now he’s been a bit disappointing.
7. Alex Caruso– Caruso is an incredibly valuable player for the Lakers. He’s arguably their best perimeter defender and he seems to always make the little plays that add up to wins. You’ll find him among the team leaders in net rating, and he is rarely a negative when he’s on the court. The only thing that is lacking is his opportunity. He should be playing 20 or more minutes per game, but often plays well below that. Here’s hoping that in 2020, he finally gets the playing time he deserves.
6. Dwight Howard– Dwight has been great for this team all season. He seems to have finally figured out what his role is in the NBA, and that’s to be a defensive force and lob threat. He is the ultimate role player for this team and he’s been nothing but a pleasure to watch.
5. Danny Green– Green has always been an inconsistent, yet great, shooter. Right now he’s in a bit of a slump. He’s still shooting in the the high 30’s from three, and always draws the attention from the defense because of his reputation as a great shooter. He’s also one of the teams best defensive players. Even if he is currently struggling, he’s still an incredibly valuable player for this team.
4. Kyle Kuzma– Kuzma has finally started to play up to his potential. He had been struggling with injury and trying to fit into a new role all year. Over the past few games, he looks like he is finally comfortable. He’s a spark plug scorer off the bench, and he’s actually been pretty good on defense. If he can keep this play up, he may actually live up to his own hype.
3. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope– KCP has been the biggest surprise for the Lakers this season. He’s been legitimately awesome. He’s been the best shooter on the team and has come up incredibly Klutch… I mean clutch in a lot of games. He’s also been a solid defensive player when he’s in the right matchup. KCP was a really good player when he was on the Pistons a few years back, and he looks like he is close to that player right now.
2. Anthony Davis– No surprise here, Davis is still the second best player on the team. There was a stretch where I thought he might surpass LeBron, but the offense is still flat when he’s not playing with LeBron. It is hard for me to see him passing LeBron as long as the offense continues to be underwhelming when he is the only star on the court.
1. LeBron James– LeBron has been great all year, and he has been the best player on the team in his mid 30’s with a 26 year old superstar on his team. His all around game has made him the most valuable player on the team, and the team clicks whenever he is on the court. When he’s not on the court, the team tends to struggle, and that is a mark of a truly transcendent and special player.
