The Los Angeles Lakers could benefit from waiting out the free agent market.
While the Los Angeles Lakers fans cling to hopes of landing Kawhi Leonard this free agency, there is optimism if they do not. The Lakers currently have $32 million in cap space and there are over 220 free agents this summer.
With a majority of teams capped out or using all their cap on big name free agents, this, in terms, benefits the Lakers. Not everyone can get paid what they’re worth, and that could lead to the Lakers landing five to seven free agents at a reasonable price instead of one.
The thought of Kawhi Leonard sounds great, but what happens if the Lakers suffer an injury? They would have no depth to compensate for that loss and put themselves in a tough position with three high salary guys and 10 rookie and vet minimum contracts.
Patience could pay off in a situation like this. There are still a lot of free agents and the Lakers are one of the teams with the most cap space at the moment. In the NBA, the teams that show they have depth are usually ones that are playing in June.
The Toronto Raptors showed during their title run what good depth can do for you. They surrounded Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry with Pascal Siakam, Serge Ibaka, Fred VanVleet and Marc Gasol.
The big names will always be intriguing, but it’s the smaller moves that could have the biggest impact. Anthony Davis has struggled with health throughout his career and LeBron James battled injuries and missed more than 15 games for the first time in his career last year.
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So, it may not be beneficial for the Lakers to put all their eggs in one basket without any cushion for insurance. One injury could completely derail the team and put more weight on the back of LeBron or AD.
Kawhi Leonard is a superstar in this league. If you get him, you form the best big three of all-time. You will singlehandedly win 55-60 games without any depth and be at the top of the Western Conference.
But, when it gets to the playoffs and one of them gets in foul trouble or is injured, you put the weight onto two guys to carry you to 16 wins to get a title. That recipe would’ve worked in the early 2010s but the NBA is evolving each year.
The logical approach is waiting out free agency, watching all these teams use their cap space and then attacking the market for five to seven guys to build balance. This would allow the Lakers to rest their star duo and have them healthier and at full strength when the postseason begins.
People will argue that the Warriors won championships while signing Kevin Durant and going top heavy in the starting lineup. But you also have to account for their ability to have the cap space to facilitate signing KD and their guys they had on Bird Rights, which is a luxury the Lakers do not have.
The Warriors were able to sign Steph Curry after getting KD and after sending off Harrison Barnes held Bird Rights on Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston. The Lakers best asset they have that they can bring back under Bird Rights is Reggie Bullock.
The tables should be set within the next few days and there are two routes the Lakers could go, whether it’s Kawhi Leonard or five to seven impact guys. Patience, in this case, could be the better option and the latter route could lead to the best results in May and June.