Los Angeles Lakers: 2019 best and worst case offseason scenarios

Worst-Case Scenario: The Lakers sign DeMarcus Cousins or DeAndre Jordan then re-sign Reggie Bullock and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

Cousins is 28 years old and he’s coming back from an Achilles tear last season. He’s averaging 15 points and eight rebounds per game while shooting 45% from the field. On most nights the Warriors look like a better team once Boogie goes to the bench, and from what I’ve seen, he can barely jump high enough to dunk the ball this year.

If “Maginka” strike out on Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, and Kyrie Irving, there’s a good chance they’ll end up convincing themselves that they can land Anthony Davis in 2020, then they’d just hand out another round of team demoralizing 1-year contracts.

I don’t think the Lakers front office or any GM in the league would come close to giving Cousins a 4-year max contract offer, but I could easily see them giving Cousins a 1-year contract at around $25 million.

If Cousins signs with a team other than the Lakers than Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka could try to sign DeAndre Jordan to a 1-year $20 million contract, with the same idea of pursuing AD in 2020 once he becomes a free agent.

Jordan’s averaging 11 PPG, 13 RPG, and 1 BPG to go along with a 1.74 rating in ESPN’s Real Plus-Minus rating, which puts him in 15th place among all centers in the league.

Here’s what Michael Pina of Vice Sports said about DeAndre Jordan a few months ago,

"“Jordan no longer rolls hard through the paint after every screen. He lacks the second-hop ability that once let him play taps on the offensive glass. So far, he’s only made 67 percent of his shots at the rim (two years ago he made 74 percent; three years ago he was at 75). And even though he can’t be blamed for all of Dallas’ defensive woes, Jordan isn’t the trustworthy safety net he once was: He’s noticeably slower helping from the weak side or laterally sliding with ball-handlers who get downhill off a high screen, and the days of him having any chance switched out on smaller players near the three-point line are all but in the rearview mirror.”"

Jordan will be 31 years old soon and he’s clearly lost a step, which isn’t a good look for a player whose main attribute is his athleticism. I can’t see Jordan moving the needle for the Lakers at all next season.

If the Lakers did decide to go the 1-year contract route, again, after they inked Cousins or Jordan they’d surely look for shooting, but not many quality shooters want to play on a 1-year contract.

If my “worst-case” scenario does play out, and Magic and Pelinka can’t find any good shooters willing to come to play in LA on 1-year deals, they might be forced to give KCP another 1-year contract in the $10 million range. Then, considering the Lakers traded a good young player in Svi Mykhailiuk for Reggie Bullock, it’s logical to assume they’d spend the rest of their cap space on a 1-year deal for Bullock.

According to the latest rumors, the situation I just laid out could very well happen this summer and if it did, it would be a disaster for the Lakers. Not only would the Lakers have to deal with the mental fatigue that players on a 1-year deal suffer from, but they’d also be relying on either Cousins or Jordan to go along with KCP and Bullock, all of whom aren’t very good defensive players at this point in their careers.

• DeAndre Jordan: 106.9 Defensive Rating, which is 51st among all centers
• DeMarcus Cousins: 108.4 Defensive Rating, which is 64th among all centers
• Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: 109.2 Defensive Rating, which is 180th among all guards
• Reggie Bullock: 110.1 Defensive Rating, which is 202nd among all guards

On the bright side though, if the Lakers did sign Boogie Cousins to a 1-year deal and things went south, it’d be fascinating to watch him implode in person.