Los Angeles Lakers: The biggest offseason loss isn’t who you think it is

The Los Angeles Lakers gained a superstar in Anthony Davis this summer but also had to lose some pieces in order to make it happen.

The narrative around the Los Angeles Lakers for the last two years has been the pursuit of two superstars. Finally, after countless reports, rumors and a lot of speculation, the Lakers completed that narrative this summer by trading for Anthony Davis.

Now, the Lakers have a team that is ready to contend for a championship, albeit they gave up some nice young pieces in the process. However, it is hard to deny the impact of the move, which was a great move for the Lakers, even if they did lose young talent in the process.

The Lakers sent Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart to the New Orleans Pelicans along with a slew of draft picks. Other losses from last year’s team include Ivica Zubac, Moritz Wagner, Reggie Bullock, Lance Stephenson, Tyson Chandler and Mike Muscala.

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But let’s be honest: none of those players were really big losses. Zubac is a solid player that was traded away in a weird move by the Lakers and Reggie Bullock was a nice three and D guy that would have fit this team. Moritz Wagner also has some potential.

So, who is the biggest loss that the Lakers endured this offseason? The team still had a net gain, so you might not even care, but most people would probably say, Brandon Ingram.

Ingram appears to be right on the verge of having a breakout, all-star-caliber year and when he eventually does there are going to be Laker fans complaining about trading him, just like there was with D’Angelo Russell.

But Ingram is not the biggest loss the Lakers had this summer, despite his breakout capability. Instead, the biggest loss that the Lakers are going to have to deal with is Lonzo Ball.

Some fans might laugh at this. Ball was never viewed positively by most of the fanbase because of his outreaching father and his quirky jump shot that led to terrible shooting splits. Basketball fans love scoring and Ball was not a marquee scorer.

It is not the scoring that the Lakers are going to miss. Most importantly, the Lakers are going to miss his defense. Ball really came into his own defensively this last season with a bigger physique and a bigger role on the defensive side of the ball.

There were stretches when Ball looked like one of the five-best defensive point guards in the league and within the next two or three years he has the potential to make an All-Defensive team.

We have advocated that the Lakers will be better on defense than some people like to admit but it is obviously still a bummer that you do not have that backcourt guy that can guard the other team’s best guard.

Having Lonzo guard the best guard and Anthony Davis guard the best big man would be a stellar defensive outlook, although there would be no Davis if they didn’t trade Ball (unless they included Kuzma, who knows).

Another facet of Ball’s game that the Lakers might not miss because they have LeBron, but will really come into its own is his facilitating and ability to orchestrate an offense.

We saw this in his rookie year as the addition of Ball drastically increased the Lakers pace of play. He might not be an elite scorer himself, but he has the potential to be one of the best distributors in the league as well as being one of the league’s best rebounding guards.

Think Ricky Rubio with stellar defense and better rebounding.

That is a loss that is hard to replicate. He might not be the best overall player right now that the Lakers lost, but he is the hardest player-type to replicate. Watching him on the New Orleans Pelicans alongside Jrue Holiday, J.J. Redick, Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson is going to be extremely fun.

Right now, the Los Angeles Lakers are still better off without Lonzo Ball. But when Ball is thriving in New Orleans, Laker fans will realize how good of a player he really is.