Los Angeles Lakers: Retroactively grading the 2019 offseason signings
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers made the much-anticipated move of adding a second superstar in the 2019 offseason by trading Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and a slew of draft capital to the New Orleans Pelicans for Anthony Davis.
The Lakers nearly added a third superstar as well, as they were one of two finalists for Kawhi Leonard, who took over a week to sign after free agency began and eventually opted to join the Los Angeles Clippers as they swung a trade for Paul George.
By waiting out, the Lakers had missed some of the most notable names in free agency, so they had to act fast. On top of the players that they re-signed from the previous year, the Lakers brought in six new players in total, with many criticizing the signings.
Those who criticized the Lakers stood corrected, as the Lakers are currently the best team in the Western Conference and have surprised many with their depth and defense.
Not every signing was fantastic, but the Rob Pelinka did a wonderful job of building a roster around LeBron James and AD after losing out on Kawhi. Here is our retroactive grades for each one of those new faces signed in the summer of 2019.
*Note: DeMarcus Cousins is getting a grade of ‘incomplete’ as an ACL injury kept him from every suiting up in the purple and gold.
Los Angeles Lakers 2019 offseason grades
Troy Daniels: D+
The Los Angeles Lakers signed Troy Daniels for his three-point shooting and there was hope that he could fight for minutes in the backend of the rotation, and if his shooting warranted it, he could play himself into a bigger role with the Lakers.
That was not the case for Daniels, who never reached his full potential as an off-ball three-point specialist for the Lakers. He shot only 35.7 percent from beyond the arc in the purple and gold, which was the lowest three-point shooting of his career.
There was not a lot of stake in this signing so a D+ grade is nonconsequential, but we cannot pretend like Daniels had a great showing in his time with the Lakers. For someone who LeBron James called “layup”, because all of his threes he made like a layup, Daniels did not like up to the expectations.