Los Angeles Lakers: 3 wings to target as LeBron James backups
2. Dion Waiters
Technically I am cheating by picking Dion Waiters as he is more of a shooting guard by trade but hear me out.
The former No. 4 overall picks career has not exactly gone to plan.
Tipped to be a potential All-star performer upon being drafted 4th overall in 2012 (three spots after Anthony Davis), Waiters has not pushed on to the level of play that has been expected of him.
Upon being drafted, Dion Waiters was lauded for his scoring touch and his ability to play on and off-ball and that has very much translated to the NBA. At times over the last eight years, Waiters was tasked with being one of his team’s main scoring options and at times has done an admirable job in that regard.
On the other end of the floor is where Waiters has struggled at times since entering the league. To put it kindly, he has yet to establish a consistent or reliable defensive game.
The good news for Mr. Waiters is the Lakers won’t be expecting miracles from him and will mainly look to him to get buckets and Waiters can do that.
Coming to the Lakers, Waiters would have an extremely defined role that would be made abundantly clear upon signing.
His job, should he choose to accept it is simple; come off screens and shoot, take high percentage shots in the corner and to give them a spark off the bench with his scoring. If he can add some defense to his role then that is an added plus for the purple and gold.
If he can do this then the Lakers will have found themselves a diamond in the rough which could be big in helping them get going offensively when the likes of Anthony Davis and LeBron James are out of the game.
So why add Dion Waiters to this list if he does not have the necessary length or ability to play small forward consistently?
The Los Angeles Lakers badly need someone to back up LeBron in the 2nd half of the season. It is unfair to ask LeBron to play big minutes and expect him to be fresh and ready to go come playoff time.
If the Lakers can get the likes of KCP and Danny Green to play more minutes at the small forward position, it allows for LeBron to potentially get large periods of rests during games and will save his body a lot of stress and strain coming up to the playoffs.
If the Lakers add quality depth at the small forward position, expect the purple and gold to make a big push in the playoffs.