Lakers Would Be Wise To Clear a Roster Spot Before Sunday’s Deadline

The Lakers current roster has been a disaster for most of this season

Despite an offseason in which the front office prioritized veteran players over talented prospects, most of those veterans have failed to make a positive contribution.

Lou Williams has been almost comically inefficient, despite a few scalding performances, and his poor decision making and selfish play have consistently hurt the chemistry and rhythm of the team.

Although Brandon Bass has improved after a terrible start to the season, his presence still stands in the way of younger players getting minutes, and his talent is clearly a notch below that of Julius Randle and Larry Nance Jr., who both play the same position.

Unfortunately, getting rid of Williams and Bass will be difficult, as the Lakers will have to move their guaranteed contracts in a trade. Fortunately, the Lakers can remedy some of their other offseason mistakes much more easily, but the deadline to do so is quickly approaching.

On Friday, the Lakers will have their final opportunity to waive players on unguaranteed deals before those deals become fully guaranteed (the deadline is officially on Sunday, but teams must allow two days for the players to pass through the waiver process). This will allow the Lakers an easy opportunity to free up roster spots for young players who could be with the team for years to come.

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The players on the Lakers roster that can be affected by this deadline are Metta World Peace, Marcelo Huertas, and Tarik Black.

First, it should be noted that cutting Black would be a huge mistake for the Lakers, as they are already making a mistake by not playing him as the team’s primary backup center. A strong, athletic big man with a high motor and improving jumper, Tarik Black should play a role in the team’s plans for both this season and the future.

Shortly before the season, the Lakers made the poor decision of cutting Jabari Brown while opting to retain Metta World Peace. While Jabari Brown was a promising young guard whose history with Jordan Clarkson made for intriguing chemistry, particularly in transition, World Peace is a one-year rental and has already played his way out of the Lakers already weak rotation.

Marcelo Huertas is in a similar situation to World Peace. A player already in his thirties, Huertas has failed to stick in the Lakers rotation, although an argument can be made that his presence would be more beneficial than that of Lou Williams. Regardless of the reasoning, the Lakers can ill afford to waste a roster spot on aging players who are unable to even contribute under the present circumstances.

However, there are also players on the Lakers with partially guaranteed deals who will also be affected by the trade deadline. Ryan Kelly and Robert Sacre, who should never have made the team in the first place, will have their contracts fully guaranteed if the team keeps them beyond Friday. While it is unlikely, it makes even more sense to release these two players than Huertas and World Peace.

With young players like Tony Wroten and Christian Wood becoming available, the Lakers would be wise to open roster spots to allow themselves additional flexibility.

Neither of them have showed upside at the NBA level, and it’s unlikely that they will be with the team beyond this season regardless of the events of this week. Additionally, Sacre could easily be replaced by Upshaw, as they play the same position. Coincidentally, Ryan Kelly also plays the same position as Christian Wood, who was recently released and possesses far greater upside than Kelly.

With young players like Tony Wroten and Christian Wood becoming available, the Lakers would be wise to open roster spots to allow themselves additional flexibility. It’s time for the Lakers to begin building for next season, now.

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The first step in that process is to release players who will not contribute in the future, and begin to try out players who might.