​A lot of people don’t seem to like or understand the Los Angeles Lakers’ decision to sign guard Collin Sexton to a two-year, $19 million contract in free agency this summer. The thinking is that his skill sets are redundant on this team and that it cost them an opportunity to sign a two-way forward such as Kelly Oubre Jr., although it is unknown if Oubre even wanted to come to L.A.But Sexton is poised to fill multiple needs that were either created or increased when LeBron James left. He’s a very speedy and high-energy ball-handling guard who can score, hit 3-pointers, facilitate and create pace and fast breaks.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHe, however, has a reputation for being a poor defender, although he does make a genuine effort on that end of the floor. During his first media availability with the Lakers, Sexton talked about looking to emulate some things former Lakers guard Marcus Smart does well, especially on defense, as well as learning from another former Laker in Avery Bradley.”I watched a lot of the playoffs. I watched a lot of him over the years, but also I would say just his mindset, ‘OK, how can I be in the right spot? How can I make plays — not always scoring, but how can I make plays on defensive end and how can I get the hockey assist — the little things?'”And also, I watched a little bit of Avery Bradley as well, how he was able to change the pace on defense — and that was a while ago. Just watching him and his competitive nature, that’s my guy, so I was like, ‘How did he impact winning when he was here?’ I feel like those two guys, I’ve been able to really lock in because I think I can bring that to this team.”Smart played with the Lakers last season and was a big X-factor for them. While he may not have been the same caliber of defensive pest he was in the past, especially when he won the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year award, he still made a big impact on that end of the floor.He often made plays on the ball and mucked things up for opponents, and he was a major reason L.A. upset the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs without the injured Luka Doncic.Bradley played with the team during the 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons. He was known as a 3-and-D guard who lacked size but made up for that with his intensity and effort. He played a key role in the Lakers’ run to the 2020 NBA championship, even though he opted out of the Walt Disney World Resort bubble due to family reasons and therefore didn’t play in the postseason.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementEven if Sexton doesn’t improve his defense this coming season, he will certainly boost a Lakers bench that ranked 29th in points during the 2025-26 campaign. He has a career average of 18.3 points on 47.2% field-goal shooting and 38.9% 3-point shooting, as well as 3.6 assists a game through eight seasons.This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Collin Sexton talks about wanting to emulate former Laker Marcus Smart