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Who Should The Lakers Target During Free Agency This Summer?

By Brendan Gilbert

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To say that the Lakers need to strike big this summer during free agency would be an understatement.  After (soon to be) two of the worst seasons in franchise history, it is imperative that the front office reassures the Lakers faithful this summer that there are competent decision makers working behind the scenes.

With that in mind, let’s look at three of the Lakers relatively recent free agent signings. (Note: this does not include the Lakers resigning their own free agents.) Are there any lessons to be learned for this summer.

Summer of 2007: The Lakers signed Vladimir Radmanovic to a 5 year, $31m deal. Yep, blast from the past here.  Sadly, Vlad Rad’s Lakers tenure will be remembered most for Phil Jackson referring to him as “space cadet” and his snowboarding accident which he lied to the team about.  Oh, and he also wasn’t very good, getting traded within two years of signing the deal.

What could the Lakers have done instead?  Signed 26 year old John Salmons, who inked a deal with the Kings for 5 years and $26m.

Summer of 2009: The Lakers signed Metta World Peace to a 5 year, $32m deal. Pretty much as soon as MWP signed that deal, his level of play fell off a cliff.  Go ahead and look at the stats, they are brutal.  By the end of his contract, MWP was known more for blowing layups than his once renowned defense.  After four seasons, the Lakers amnestied him.

What could the Lakers have done instead? Re-signed 25-year old Trevor Ariza for the same amount.  Because the Lakers had Ariza’s bird rights, they could have then spent their mid level exception money on 25 year old restricted free agent Jarrett Jack, who inked a deal with the Raptors for 4 years and $20m.

Summer of 2010: The Lakers signed 30 year old Steve Blake to a 4 year, $16m deal.  While Blake was serviceable during his Lakers tenure, this was a pretty underwhelming signing when it was all said and done.  Like MWP, Blake’s stats with the Lakers were also pretty brutal, especially during his first two seasons where he shot around 36% and averaged about 5 points a game.

What could the Lakers have done instead?  Signed 23-year old restricted free agent Wes Matthews, who ended up with the Trailblazers on a 5 year, $34m deal.

So what is the point of the revisionist history above?  To demonstrate a clear pattern with the Lakers past free agent signings, and what can be learned from it so that history is not doomed to repeat itself.  With all three of the signings mentioned above, the Lakers signed older players lacking in a critical attribute: potential.

So the obvious lesson seems to be that the Lakers should approach free agency this summer looking to sign younger players with the potential to only get better.

Of course, this approach is risky.  But the Lakers front office needs to take risks because, frankly, playing it safe hasn’t worked.  Furthermore, there is simply no way the Lakers are competing for a championship next season, as Kobe Bryant’s albatross salary will prevent the Lakers from bringing in enough quality free agents.

So why not roll the dice on some younger free agents, and allow them to grow with some of the talent that the Lakers already have (e.g., Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, Ryan Kelly, Tarik Black, etc.).

With that being said, what upcoming free agents would qualify?

Our own Valerie Morales made the case for forward Tobias Harris recently. Harris is a 22-year old restricted free agent, who has already established himself as an explosive scorer.  You may recall that just last Friday against, you guessed it, the Lakers, Harris dropped 34 points without breaking a sweat (figuratively speaking). It was his career high. The Lakers should absolutely throw a 4 year, $50m deal at him and see what the Magic do.

Or how about 24-year old restricted free agent point guard Reggie Jackson, who I advocated that the Lakers should trade for.  As I detailed, because of the Thunder’s roster (i.e., Russell Westbrook and Dion Waiters), there is simply no way they are willing to pay big money for a second guard off the bench.  Would a 4 year, $40m deal get it done?

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There is also 23-year old restricted free agent Khris Middleton, a shooting guard/small forward who is a capable defender and an emerging scorer.  Would 4 years, $32m be enough to pry him away from the Bucks?

If the Lakers are unreasonably opposed to signing restricted free agents, then there are plenty of unrestricted options as well.  How about 24-year old big man Greg Monroe, an excellent low post scorer whose defense is improving?  Or 24-year old guard Iman Shumpert,a solid wing defender with offensive potential? Or even 25-year old center Kosta Koufos, a criminally underrated defensive player with a great feel for the game?

In any event, the Lakers can clearly learn from some of their past free agent signings in figuring out who to target this summer.  Imagine a (realistic) starting lineup next season of Jackson, Bryant, Middleton, Randle and Koufos, with Young, Clarkson, Kelly and Black off the bench.  And this doesn’t even take into account a potential top 5 pick in this year’s draft being on the roster (for anti-jinx purposes).

Maybe that team doesn’t make the playoffs in the ridiculous western conference, but it sure would be a lot more fun to watch than what we have been subjected to these past two years.  And more importantly, it would give the Lakers a solid foundation of younger players with the potential to only get better.

Sounds like a plan to me.

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