Best-Case Scenario: The Lakers sign Kyrie Irving or Nikola Vucevic and then sign two 3-and-D players to 2 or 3-year deals
The Purple and Gold do have a shot at Irving and Vucevic. Signing Irving would be the best case scenario, but if Irving is plan 1A than Vucevic is plan 1B.
Kyrie Irving is averaging 23 PPG, 7 APG, and 5 RPG while shooting 42% from deep on six attempts per game. He’s one of the best point guards in the league and he’s a perfect fit next to LeBron because he’s a great 3-point shooter and he can get his own shot whenever he wants.
Irving is also a champion, who’s shown he’s capable of playing under the pressure of the circus-like conditions that LeBron attracts. If the Lakers were able to land Irving and made no other changes to their roster, they’d go from a lottery team to a top-4 seed in the west.
Nikola Vucevic is the real deal. He made his first All-Star game this season while averaging 21 PPG, 12 RPG, and 4 APG while shooting 38% from deep on three attempts per game. He’s not just a soft offensive player either, He’s 9th in the league in ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus-Minus.
Irving is clearly a better and more accomplished player than Vucevic, but Nikola fills such a huge, glaring need for the Lakers at the center position that if Magic and Pelinka managed to sign him, it’d be a huge win for the Purple and Gold.
There is one thing about Vucevic that does slightly concern me. He’s spent almost his entire career in the basketball wasteland known as Orlando. Some players excel under the sparsely crowded dim lights of an Off-Broadway show, but once they take a step up, and make it onto a real Broadway stage, and then they look up and see the thousands of excited faces staring at them, they fold under the pressure.
Playing in LA for the Lakers is the biggest stage in basketball and nobody knows how Vucevic will react. Maybe he’ll step up his game under the weight of Hollywood or perhaps he’ll crumble like a paper tiger.
If the Lakers sign Vucevic this summer and he plays the way he has in Orlando this year, it would open everything up on offense for LeBron and Ingram. They’d both have cleaner driving lanes because the opposing teams center would have to cover Vucevic beyond the arc.
The Lakers would also have one of the best post-up options in the league who can get his own shot when plays break down on offense.
If the Lakers did sign either Irving or Vucevic they’d still need more shooting off the bench and another defensive-minded center, so just like in my “decent scenario,” I’d suggest the Lakers try to sign Seth Curry, Terrence Ross, and Joakim Noah.