ESPN Ranks the NBA's Top 100 Players: How Many Lakers Made it? Plus, D'Lo Vows Better Defense.

Every year, ESPN's hoops department ranks the top 100 players in the NBA. Every year, it causes a little bit of controversy, because people tend to get really worked up about rankings and lists. But while they're certainly arguable and definitely easy to overrate (does it really matter if someone is the 7th best player or the 9th, the 58th or the 62nd?) lists like these can be instructive.

Particularly in trying to figure out roster depth around the league, and how different teams compare to each other. So how do the Lakers stack up?

Well, they're the only team with two players in the top 10 - Anthony Davis (10) and LeBron James (9). Austin Reaves comes in at 66. And that's it. Many teams have more guys in the top 100 (Denver has four, the Knicks, surprisingly, have five). But when you start to peel back more layers, it's pretty clear the Lakers have a high end roster with a ton of depth. How many players who are average or above (don't poo poo average - half the league is below it) do the Lakers have in their rotation? Well, all of them. James, Davis, Hachimura, Russell, Reaves, Vincent, Wood, Prince, Vanderbilt and, if things progress, Max Christie as well. But they're at least nine deep with average or above or well above.

If that's your roster, your roster is good.

Speaking of Russell, after Wednesday's win in Anaheim, he talked about his defense and acknowledged that it's a big part of the reason he was taken off the floor in the postseason, especially against Denver. (His horrendous shooting didn't help, either.) He knows that has to get better if he wants not only to be a four-quarter contributor in the playoffs for the Lakers this year, but also to re-establish his value across the league.

Finally, The Athletic's John Hollinger put out a column this week highlighting players on good teams who could play important roles, but are relatively unknown to most basketball fans. On that list? Christie. When we look back on that column in the spring, how likely is it that he'll be correct?

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: NBA Rank - LeBron 9, AD 10 and Reaves 66.

SEGMENT 2: How LA's depth stacks up.

SEGMENT 3: Is Christie a legitimate breakout candidate?

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