Number Two: Jeff Teague
Jeff Teague’s a minimum contract candidate. If you have to give him more than 20 minutes per game, your organization is in trouble. If you depend on him to run your starting unit than your best hope is 10th place in your conference.
Jeff Teague is a real point guard though, and at 31-years-old, he’s got a few more season left in the tank. During Teague’s heyday for the Atlanta Hawks, he averaged close to 16 PPG and 7 APG. He even made the All-Star team once.
Nowadays, Teague should play backup point guard. He has a career 36 percent three-point percentage, and he can handle the ball against second-stringers. He’s a terrible defender, but he’s slightly better than Rajon Rondo or shorter available players like D.J. Augustine, Shabazz Napier, and Yogi Ferrell.
One problem Jeff Teague has had during his career is that he can’t manufacture a quality look for himself in the same way the better point guards in the league are capable of. Still, he has the chops to run the Lakers’ second unit with Anthony Davis, Kyle Kuzma, Alex Caruso, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. He can run pick-and-rolls, hit jumpers off of a screen, and get the ball to the open man.
Another knock on Jeff Teague is that he always made bonehead plays, especially during crunch time situations. But now as he’s shifted toward the back end of his career, he’s cleaned up his game. This season with Atlanta, he had a respectable 2.66 assist/turnover percentage.
Overall, there are several better point guards on the market, but they all will command a salary that the Lakers won’t be able to afford. Jeff Teague is an upgrade over Rajon Rondo, and considering he’s never sniffed a championship, he should be willing to come to Hollywood on the cheap to chase a title with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the rest of the Lakers.