Minimum Contract Veterans
The Lakers need another defensive-minded big to back up LeBron James. Jae Crowder might be the best option, but he’s just 30-years-old, and he proved incredibly valuable to the Heat as a defensive enforcer/three-point threat. He worth much more than the minimum deal the Lakers can offer him.
Paul Millsap is a realistic choice.
Millsap has done almost everything there is to do in the NBA. He’s played in multiple All-Star games, he was selected to the NBA All-Defensive First Team four times, and he’s played in 120 playoff games. The one thing he hasn’t done is make to the NBA finals. At 36-years-old he must be jonesing for a taste of that finals magic.
The handful of contenders would all love to sign Millsap to a minimum deal, including his current squad, the Denver Nuggets. Can any other squad offer Millsap the title shot that the Lakers can? No. As long as the Lakers boast two top-five players in LeBron James and Anthony Davis, they’ll be title favorites.
Paul Millsap could carve out a significant bench role on the Lakers. He finished last season with an excellent 44 percent clip from deep, and even though he’s closer to 40 than 30, he’s still an excellent defender. It’s easy to envision Millsap closing out games against bulkier squads for the Lakers.
The Purple and Gold have a good shot at signing Paul Millsap to a one-year, title-chasing, minimum contract.
The Los Angeles Lakers need three-point shooting. Two of the best long-distance chuckers —Davis Bertans and Joe Harris — are available. They’re both worth more than the minimum, and they are too young to chase titles instead of getting paid.
Wesley Matthews is a solid selection for the Lakers to fill Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s bench role. Matthews has a $2.5 million player option with the Milwaukee Bucks, but most folks expect him to opt-out.
Wesley Matthews is similar to Paul Millsap in that he’s been in the league for a long time now, but he’s never made a deep playoff run. He probably signed a minimum contract with the Bucks last season in the hopes of making it to the promised land.
Unfortunately for Matthews, we learned that the Bucks are a sound regular-season squad, but their lack of playmaking renders them predictable and easy to beat in the playoffs.
The Lakers can offer Wesley his best chance at winning a chip.
Wesley Matthews was the defensive stopper last season for the Bucks that the Purple and Gold hoped Danny Green would be. Last season Matthews leveraged his incredible motor with excellent footwork to constantly bother his assignment on the perimeter. After everything was said and done, he finished the year ranked second out of all shooting guards in ESPN’s defensive real plus-minus.