The Los Angeles Lakers have learned from the downside of offseason inactivity and put together a productive summer in 2025. Losing Dorian Finney-Smith stung, but Los Angeles was active in its efforts to replace him and supplement the talent of franchise player Luka Doncic.
Unfortunately, there's one area in which the Lakers remain somewhere in between underwhelming and unproven: Defense at the point of attack.
Los Angeles made a significant leap on defense after acquiring Finney-Smith in 2024-25. Unfortunately, losing him to the Houston Rockets has sent the Lakers back to the drawing board—and ESPN has questioned whether or not they've done enough to replace his presence.
[Kevin Pelton of ESPN](https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/46217583/nba-roster-hole-all-30-teams-2025-2026-season) recently wrote about every NBA team's primary weakness and singled out the Lakers' lack of point-of-attack defenders as a flaw.
"As potent as the Lakers' perimeter trio of Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves is offensively, it's limited defensively. Dorian Finney-Smith, now in Houston, served as the Lakers' perimeter stopper after the deadline. They added Marcus Smart, but at this stage of his career, Smart might be better against big opponents than defending the point of attack."
Los Angeles has players who are capable of defending at a commendable level, but it's fair to question if a current player can resolve the issue of improving at the point of attack.
ESPN calls Lakers out for lack of point-of-attack defenders
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Los Angeles brought in talent to help overcome the loss of Finney-Smith, as well as to bolster its depth and resources on defense. That includes 3-and-D swingman Jake LaRavia, 2022 Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, and incoming rookie Adou Thiero.
There's rational optimism that all three could help improve the Lakers' team defense and even provide value at the point of attack.
By that same measure, veteran reserves Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent are proven commodities on the defensive end of the floor. Both thrive within a team scheme and provide reliable effort and results when isolated.
Vincent's size limits his positional mobility, however, and Vanderbilt has played just 65 games over the past two seasons—much as Smart has appeared in 54 during that same timeframe.
The upside for Los Angeles is that a healthy roster should be able to produce tremendous results on both ends of the floor. The downside is that they're banking heavily on the current players being able to overcome extensive injury histories or general inexperience.
Thankfully, the Lakers have enough all-around upside to enter the season with optimism—and the adequate trade assets to improve by February if necessary.
In the meantime, the hope appears to be that the likes of Rui Hachimura, LaRavia, and Vanderbilt will excel defensively along the wings, while Smart and Vincent can anchor the backcourt. Additionally, Bronny James and Thiero represent the untapped potential the Lakers may look to explore.
Regardless of what transpires, ESPN has justifiably identified the area in which the Lakers must improve in order to avoid a self-imposed limit on their potential.