Los Angeles Lakers: Realistic tier 3 free agents to target
By Ethan Temkin
2. Seth Curry
After floundering in the G League, Seth has finally carved out a role for himself in the league as a knockdown 3-point shooter. Most recently, he has found success with the Portland Trail Blazers, contributing meaningful minutes in both the regular season and the playoffs.
Curry is averaging modest 7.9 points but is shooting a red-hot 45% from three. Not only that, he’s proven to be a key player for the Trail Blazer’s bench unit. For the Lakers, and really any team for that matter, having a strong bench is just as important as a strong starting five, so adding an efficient scoring guard in Curry should be a move the Lakers heavily consider.
It gets repeated to death amongst fans and talking heads, but the Lakers do need shooting if they want to maximize the skills of LeBron James and to a lesser extent, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball. For players whose primary way of scoring happens inside the paint, having shooters to kick out to and to space the floor is incredibly important, and Curry has shown to be one of the best in the league at shooting the three.
Looking at the financial side, Curry will be 29 entering the offseason and will be a sought after player for teams looking to bolster their bench. Something in the $5-6M range on a multi-year deal seems like the most realistic outcome for a player of Seth’s age and skill set, which would still give the Lakers more than enough flexibility to add other pieces should they wish to acquire Curry.