Los Angeles Lakers: Ranking the top 5 free agents in 2018 and 2019
Chris Paul (PG, Houston Rockets, 2018 UFA)
James Harden has shown that he can gel with another superstar. It did not take long to learn to share the ball with him either. Still, CP3 can light it up from deep, share the rock with others, and play terrifying on-ball defense.
Thinking that the marriage between the both could break up soon is preposterous. Even at the age of 33, Paul is still playing among the best of his career. Harden has plenty of stamina and prime talent to waste. Rockets manager Daryl Morey certainly won’t give up on the experiment. Were they to reach the Conference Finals, oust the Warriors, or even beat the Eastern Conference finalist, Paul would not move an inch outside of Houston.
Nikola Jokic (C/PF, Denver Nuggets, 2019 RFA)
Wait. He doesn’t come off the books this season… so why is he on here?
The Nuggets are entrapped in a situation where they could heighten the tax bill this season, or sign Jokic to a lucrative near-supermax contract in 2019. What Nuggets management decides to do is going to revolve around many bad contract situations. If you want to take a more in-depth look, check out Spotrac and SB Nation’s article on the Joker.
The Serbian has emerged as a top 5 center offensive talent in basketball. He hurts the team playing with a traditional center and is a liability on defense. (This is the reason they traded Jusuf Nurkic and signed Paul Millsap). If he is off the books, Magic could send in a flyer to Denver if they decide to decline his team option. Denver’s owner, Stan Kroenke, might be hard-headed to dive into the luxury tax. Jokic would also solve in a woe at center, and could pair up nicely with Julius Randle.
DeAndre Jordan (C, Los Angeles Clippers, 2018 UFA)
Switching teams but not cities could be an option for Jordan. The Lakers could get a discount on him since the big man market is dwindling. There are several problems.
Jordan will turn 30 once the NBA season rolls around in October. There are heavy implications with his role in the league as a traditional center.
So yes, the Lakers could turn to him as a possibility. With Julius Randle emerging as a top-four option for Los Angeles, I doubt Magic would give him much more than Randle could make this summer.