12.) Jared Dudley
Coming in at the twelve spot is everybody’s favorite head-band wearing, fight-instigating power forward, Jared Dudley.
Entering the season at 34-years-old, there isn’t much Dudley can contribute in the way of offense, as he will mostly be relegated to a spot-up role on this Lakers team. Luckily, that is exactly the kind of player that will thrive in an offense spearheaded by LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
We’ve seen former teammates of LeBron’s succeed in similar roles such as Channing Frye, and Richard Jefferson, who were well past their prime, but still managed to contribute meaningful minutes thanks to their basketball IQ and shooting touch.
Defensively Dudley isn’t going to lock anyone down, but isn’t necessarily a liability on that end of the floor either. At 6’7″ and 237 pounds, Dudley can still hold his own in limited minutes against opposing power forwards.
Like Daniels, all that will be asked of Dudley for this Lakers team will be to space the floor, make the right pass, and knock down the open three, all of which Dudley is perfectly capable of doing. He also provides a great locker-room presence, and has been praised by former teammates for his leadership qualities, and we all know, every team needs one or two of these guys.
To make a long story short, Dudley is a smart and respected player, who will never do more than what is asked of him. It also helps that he’s not a total liability on either side of the floor, and provides spacing at a position that will benefit the team’s two best players. As long as his minutes are capped at the ten to twelve range, Dudley should prove to be a valuable piece to this team.