Los Angeles Lakers: Three role players the front office should target
Starting Center:
Here are the five best economically priced starting center free agents in the NBA:
- Kevon Looney (2018-2019 salary: $1.5 million)
- JaVale McGee (2018-2019 salary: $2.4 million)
- Brook Lopez (2018-2019 salary: $3.4 million)
- Aron Baynes (2018-2019 salary: $5.3 million)
- Dewayne Dedmon (2018-2019 salary: $7 million)
Before Kevon Looney was injured, he had been the Warriors best option at center throughout the playoffs, garnering 1.4 win shares, a ridiculous 147 offensive rating and a 112 defensive rating during Golden States’ run to the finals.
Steve Kerr has come out and said that Kevon Looney is one of Golden States’ top priorities this offseason, and it’s hard to see Looney playing down south in LA when he’ll be offered a substantial contract to stick with the powerhouse Warriors.
Strike him off the list as a potential Lakers starting center.
Brook Lopez is in a similar position as Kevon Looney. He’s an unrestricted free agent, but he was incredibly valuable for the Milwaukee Bucks during the regular season and throughout the playoffs. Lopez was worth 1.4 win shares during the postseason to go along with a very impressive 102 defensive rating.
The Bucks will almost certainly retain Brook Lopez on a long-term deal, so strike him off the list for the Lakers as well.
That leaves the Purple and Gold with three realistic options at starting center: JaVale McGee, Aron Baynes, and Dewayne Dedmon.
Here are their 2018-2019 statistics:
- JaVale McGee: 22.3 MPG, 12 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 2 BPG, .083 3P%, 104 DEFRTG, 117 OFFRTG, 5.9 WS
- Aron Baynes: 16.1 MPG, 5.6 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 0.7 BPG, .344 3P%, 108 DEFRTG, 118 OFFRTG, 2.4 WS
- DeWayne Dedmon: 25.1 MPG, 10.8 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.1 BPG, .382 3P%, 109 DEFRTG, 115 OFFRTG, 4 WS
If you haven’t heard of Aron Baynes that’s okay; most people outside of Boston don’t know who he is but understand this: He was one of the keys to the Celtics 7th rated 2018-2019 defense.
He plays perfect positional defense and he’s capable of switching onto smaller players and guarding them on the perimeter.
Despite Aron Baynes’s defensive acumen and notable advanced stats, at age 32 he’s more a backup center than a starter in the NBA.
JaVale McGee had better overall stats than DeWayne Dedmon, but there’s one huge difference between them; Dedmon is close to a 40% 3-point shooter, while McGee doesn’t have an outside stroke.
The Lakers are in desperate need of long-distance shooting to help open up driving lanes for LeBron James and Brandon Ingram.
Rob Pelinka should try to ink DeWayne Dedmon as the Lakers starting center next season, because he’s an adequate defender (he ranked 27th in ESPN’s defensive real plus-minus out of 71 centers during the 2018-2019 season), but more importantly he can help spread the floor for LeBron James and Brandon Ingram with his 38% 3-point shooting.
The only question is: Would DeWayne Dedmon take a pay cut and sign with the Lakers for something like 3 years, $15 million?