Top 3 Wing Role Players Lakers Should Target in Free Agency

Apr 24, 2015; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs shooting guard

(14) shoots the ball against the Los Angeles Clippers in game three of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

It is a worst kept secret that once free agency officially gets underway, the Lakers will target the big names.  The Lakers interest in max contract guys like Marc Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Love, Goran Dragic, DeAndre Jordan, etc. has been well documented and reported.

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And after these past two seasons, it makes all the sense in the world for the Lakers to want to bring in a max caliber player, not just for the improvement on the court but also for the public perception of the franchise.

But if the Lakers strike out on all of the big name free agents that they are targeting, they better have “Plan B” in place because, with the drastically rising salary cap, most NBA teams will have substantial money to spend next offseason so there will be more competition for available free agents.  Additionally, deals signed this offseason will likely look bargains compared to the deals handed out once the salary cap rises.

This “Plan B” should focused on signing quality “role player” free agents, guys that you wouldn’t build your team around but would definitely contribute to a championship caliber team.  As Lakers fans are well aware, the role players (e.g. Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher, Robert Horry, Rick Fox, etc.) can be just as important as the franchise players when it comes to winning championships.

So with that in mind, let’s look at the top 3 wing role players that the Lakers should target this offseason, as that is clearly a position of need for them.  It should be noted that this article is only focusing on unrestricted free agents mainly because prying away restricted free agents is very difficult and rare, and it will only be tougher because, as mentioned above, due to the rising salary cap, deals signed this offseason will look like bargains down the road.

1.  Danny Green – Shooting Guard/Small Forward

Green has been a role player extraordinaire for the Spurs over the past couple of years, and absolutely played a key role in their winning a championship last year.  He is the prototypical “3 and D” wing player, a guy you can rely on to provide solid defense as well as exceptional 3 point shooting.

Indeed, defensively he does a great job staying in front of his man, using his long arms and good instincts to make up for his lack of lateral quickness.  He also has an uncanny ability to chase down players on the fast break and swat them from behind (also known as “the LeBron”).

As for his shooting, he is a career 42% 3 point shooter which is phenomenal.  Now, he did just have a rough postseason, shooting only 30% on 3s against the Clippers but in the 2013 and 2014 postseasons (where the Spurs made it all the way to the NBA finals, i.e. a larger sample size) he shot 48 and 47% respectively.

Lastly, Green will only be 28 once next season gets underway, so he will be in the prime of his career if signed to a long term deal this offseason.  I wouldn’t hesitate to lock him up with a 4 year, $32 million deal.

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