Key Free Agents
Several skilled unrestricted free agents will be available this summer.
Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka, Derrick Favors, Goran Dragic, Marcus Morris, and Danillo Gallinari are a few examples.
The Los Angeles Lakers would love to land Serge Ibaka, Goran Dragic, or Derrick Favors, but none has shown any indication that they want to come to Tinsletown or that they’d be willing to sign at a discount. Is it possible that one of these impact free agents joins the Lakers to chase a title with LeBron James and Anthony Davis? Yeah, it’s possible, but not realistic.
Danilo Gallinari is a genuine option. He made a little over $22 million last season, and looking at his stats; he was mostly worth it. He averaged 19 points per game, but his point average undersells his impact on the game.
Last season the Oklahoma City Thunder scored 15 more points per 100 possessions with Danilo on the floor. At 6’10”, he’s a load to deal with for defenders. Leave him open from deep, and he’ll kill you with his outside shot.
Rush at him to stop him from shooting a 3-pointer, and he’ll move inside a few feet and can a midrange jumper. Switch a smaller player onto the Italian sharpshooter, and he’ll use his size to punish you in the post.
Danilo Gallinari is one of the best offensive role players in the league—a guy who won’t make the All-Star team and isn’t worth a max-contract but is right below that echelon.
Danilo Gallinari is 32-years-old, and he’s made $115 million throughout his NBA career. Sadly, he’s never made it to the second round of the playoffs. After the Houston Rockets ousted the Thunder in the first round of playoffs, he said numerous times that he’s now at a point in his career where he’s more interested in winning than earning money.
The Lakers can’t offer fair market value. Rob Pelinka will only have the $9.3 million mid-level exception to extend to him. The Purple and Gold probably can’t even provide the former Thunder forward a starting gig.
LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and company can offer Gallinari a closing role on a championship-caliber squad. Is that enough? Will Gallinari put his ego on the back burner and come off the bench for a contender? There’s a strong possibility that Danilo will bring his considerable offensive talents to Hollywood.
Bryn Forbes is another excellent option for the Lakers. He earned a paltry $3 million last year, and at age 27, the former San Antonio Spurs shooting guard is hitting the open market.
His counting stats are ho-hum. He averaged 11PPG, 2 RPG, and 2 APG while shooting 39 percent from deep. His advanced stats are ugly. He had an awful 118 defensive rating.
To put that number in perspective Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had the worst defensive rating of any player in the Lakers regular rotation at 110. Forbes also had -2.7 box plus/minus, and he was only worth 1.5 win shares despite averaging 25 minutes per game for the Spurs.
Bryn Forbes’s ugly numbers should dissuade most NBA front offices from pursuing him. That’s an opportunity for the Lakers. Bryn Forbes isn’t a lockdown defender, but he’s also not as bad as his numbers indicate.
It’s hard to have solid advanced stats when your backline defense consists of 35-year-old LaMarcus Aldridge—a guy who had no desire to hustle over and clean up his teammate’s mistakes at the rim—and the slow-footed Jakob Poeltl.
In reality, Bryn Forbes, at 6’2,” is too short ever to be a true lockdown perimeter defender, but he’s more than capable of holding his own against reserve wings. Plus, he’s got a pure outside stoke and, in the right situation, could lead the NBA in three-point shooting.
Bryn Forbes would be an outstanding addition to the Lakers with their $4 million bi-annual exception.