The Los Angeles Lakers first agreed upon deal in free agency won’t make many headlines, but signing Troy Daniels makes perfect sense.
The Los Angeles Lakers need to sign players. Waiting for Kawhi Leonard is a huge gamble, but one that appears they have a realistic shot at winning. On Monday, the Lakers signed veteran Troy Daniels to a one-year, $2 million contract.
People may remember him from the 2014 NBA Playoffs when he was on the Rockets. As a rookie that season, with the Rockets trailing 2-0 to Portland in the first round, he hit a game-winning three in overtime.
Daniels is a terrific shooter who can light it up in a hurry. The Lakers need as many shooters as they can get. The team ranked 29th in 3-point percentage (33 percent). Daniels is a career 40 percent 3-point shooter. A crazy stat is that he averages 1.7 makes in his career in only 15.5 minutes.
This past season with the Suns he averaged 6.2 points in 14.9 minutes. The 27-year-old shot it at a respectable 38 percent from deep. Just to give you an example of how good he has been from three, it was his lowest 3-point percentage in a season since 2015.
Free agent Troy Daniels has agreed to a one-year, $2.1M with the Lakers, agent Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports tells @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Daniels gives the Lakers an elite shooter to pair with LeBron James and Anthony Davis and does not affect the team’s cap space.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2019
The Lakers are familiar with Daniels as he had one of the best games of his career against them. On December 3, 2016, he scored 31 points on 6-of-12 from 3-point range off the bench to beat the Lakers as a member of the Grizzlies.
More from Lake Show Life
- 2 Lakers who would benefit the most from a Kyrie Irving trade
- Victor Oladipo’s Russell Westbrook comments are terrible sign for Lakers
- 4 Free agent fits for the Lakers while they wait on Kyrie Irving
- 3 Most likely positions the Lakers will use for the last roster spot
- Kings signing castoffs from Lakers’ nightmare seasons is strange
Daniels will be a terrific fit as a floor spacer alongside LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Kyle Kuzma. At 6’4″, Daniels is more of an undersized shooting guard, but he won’t be asked to lock down on defense since he will likely play around 15 minutes against second unit guys.
The beautiful thing about signing Daniels is that he simply knows his role. Once he checks in he usually gets a few looks. If he is hot, he gets bigger minutes, and if he can’t get going early on, he usually doesn’t see much time.
He knows what he is on the floor for. He doesn’t need the ball in his hands, which is a huge plus when playing with guys like Davis and James.
Daniels is a clear example of a low-risk (if any), high-reward move. Signing a player of his caliber to a veteran’s minimum is a huge win for the Lakers.
Look for Daniels to give the Lakers some instant offense off the bench.