Los Angeles Lakers: 5 Biggest needs for the 2018 offseason
By Ed Schrenzel
The NBA draft is on June 21st and free agency begins on July 1st. What are the biggest needs for the Los Angeles Lakers this offseason?
In order to determine the biggest needs for the Los Angeles Lakers, it is first necessary to see which players are returning.
Five players are under contract for the 2018-19 season:
• Lonzo Ball, PG
• Luol Deng, SF/PF
• Josh Hart, SG
• Brandon Ingram, SF
• Kyle Kuzma. PF/SF
The team would like, of course, to trade Deng, who is not part of their future plans. But the other four players most certainly are.
The Lakers also have team options on three players: centers Ivica Zubac and Thomas Bryant, both of which they are likely to exercise, and back-up point guard Tyler Ennis, which they may decline.
So that means going into the draft and free agency, the Lakers should have a point guard, a shooting guard, a small forward, two small/power forwards, and two centers.
Club and player options from all teams will exercised or declined prior to July 1st. Until then, it is difficult to speculate about which players are truly viable candidates for the Lakers. But let’s look at where their five biggest needs lie.