Midseason report card: Grading every Lakers player's performance at the All-Star Break
The Los Angeles Lakers haven't lived up to their preseason expectations which means the players haven't either. Here is a grading of every Lakers performance so far.
Two of the greatest pressures currently in the NBA are playing your best for the Los Angeles Lakers and also playing alongside LeBron James. Coincidentally, LeBron James plays for the Lakers which means that they are in a championship or bust mode.
At the start of the season, the Lakers were expected to be in championship contention and after winning the first-ever In-Season Tournament, it looked like they were on their way. Now they are currently the ninth seed in the Western Conference.
Something for the Lakers has not gone right, whether it be players not living up to expectations, players being hurt, or constant changes to the starting lineup.
Here is a midseason report of every Lakers grade so far this season. The 10 players selected will be the top 10 players in total minutes played so far this season.
10. Jarred Vanderbilt: C
Jarred Vanderbilt was one of the key pieces for the Lakers last year, where he turned their entire defense around. He was expected to be that for the Lakers this season. He has been, except he hasn't always been available.
Vanderbilt missed the first 20 games of the season and has now missed their last six games. Granted, in those last six games the Lakers have a record of 5-1 but for those first 20 games, the Lakers struggled defensively.
The main reason Vanderbilt's grade is just a C is because he hasn't been available for a majority of the season. Along with his game being very specific towards defense and making hustle plays, it's hard to give him a higher grade without him being on the court.
9. Max Christie: C-
Going into this season, Max Christie was expected to be at best the 10th man on the rotation for the Lakers. A large part of that had to do with the Lakers signing Miami guard Gabe Vincent. With Vincent and other players dealing with injury, Christie has received more playing time.
In the 43 games he has played in, he has averaged five points, 2.6 rebounds and one assist, with .422/.356/.784 shooting splits on just 17.2 minutes per game. These are your typical role-player stats. The one area where Christie has taken a step back in is his three-point shooting. He shot 41.9 percent from last season.
Seeing the drop in his three-point percentage, along with him not playing that great on defense, it's hard to say that Christie has been better than a D+ this season. The reason he is a C- is because he has played well over his last 20 games.