Los Angeles Lakers: Realistic tier 3 free agents to target
By Ethan Temkin
3. Darren Collison
Surprise, another Indiana Pacers player. This is mostly due to the fact that a chunk of the Pacer’s roster is set to be free agents in the 2019 offseason, and were solid contributors to a team lacking its star player in Victor Oladipo for a large position of the season.
Overall, there isn’t too much to say about Collison that hasn’t been said. He’s a solid player, doesn’t turn the ball over much, is a decent defender, and is fully capable of running your offense or ceding control to a more ball-dominant player a la Victor Oladipo.
Most importantly, however, is the fact that Collison is a 40% shooter from three and averages six assists and fewer than 2 turnovers per game. All of these stats make him a great all-around player the Lakers can acquire to shore up their point guard rotation and make improvements on the margins.
Given the fact that Collison will be 32 entering the 2019-2020 season, he shouldn’t command a salary much more than $5-6M. His current deal with the Pacers was only a one-year deal, so we should expect him to want some financial security in the form of a multi-year contract, which the Lakers should absolutely consider giving, even though they’ve been hesitant to do so in the past.