Los Angeles Lakers: As predicted, Lakers have better depth than Clippers

One of our preseason predictions that garnered the most backlash involving the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers has come true thus far this season.

The Los Angeles Lakers have been surprising all the naysayers this season. While the team has admittedly not had as many tough games as some of the other teams in the NBA, the Lakers have still been great thus far and have the best record in the NBA.

The most surprising part about the Lakers for a lot of people has been the defense, which has been one of the best in the league. Before the season began, we warned the naysayers that the defense would be better than expected, albeit we did not expect it to be this good.

That preseason prediction did not get that much backlash, at least not compared to the backlash we received when comparing the Los Angeles Lakers to the Los Angeles Clippers.

We wrote an article for both teams stating the advantages that the said team had over their LA foes. In the Lakers version, we argued that the Lakers were deeper than the Clippers. While we recognized that the Clippers have the best bench player in the league, the argument stemmed from the depth at the bottom of the rotation.

Here is an excerpt from that article:

"“The Clippers have a better seven-man rotation than the Lakers, but past that, the Lakers are significantly better than the Clippers… The fewer quality depth players that a team has means more minutes that the primary players have to play. That, mixed with the concerns that we outlined on the last slide [injury history with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George], could be a disaster for the Clippers once they reach the playoffs.”"

Once the playoffs hit, the backend of the rotation might not mean as much, which we stated. In terms of regular-season success, the backend guys of the rotation are extremely important and that is part of the reason why the Lakers are 12-2 and the Clippers are 10-5.

There has not been a massive difference, but the Lakers have been better. The Clippers’ 7th-12th players, in terms of minutes played per game, are averaging 36.6 points, 4.4 assists and 22.7 rebounds per game.

The Lakers’ 7th-12th players are averaging 36.6 points, 7.7 assists and 20.5 rebounds per game. Ironically, the two teams are identical in PER thus far with a combined 65.41. What is really telling is the plus/minus for both units, which shows us how much better both benches are than their competition.

The average plus-minus for Clippers’ six players is +18. The Lakers’ average plus-minus for the six players is +49.3. Yes, the Lakers have not played as many quality teams, but a difference that big is staggering.

Some comments after writing that initial article (mostly on Twitter) include: “You’re biased,” “VERY WRONG LOL,” “Laker fans living in denial,” “You must not follow basketball, Lakers have no bench or depth,” and other things that cannot be repeated or else I will need to contribute to the swear jar.

I am not a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers, nor the Los Angeles Clippers, I simply try covering the two teams down the middle. And so far, the Lakers have proven me right.