Here are 10 possible options for the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency. Who fits? Who does not?
With the offseason market approaching, the Los Angeles Lakers are supposed to dream to make upgrades to their championship team. Instead, they are already facing the possibility of a breakdown of the current roster. That is the risk of putting together a contender already looking beyond it.
The Lakers took (hopefully) calculated risks when they made their plans to pursue Giannis Antetokounmpo next summer, but, as of now, the only sure things on the Lakers’ roster are LeBron James and Anthony Davis (plus, unfortunately, Danny Green).
If fans expected the purple and gold to enter free agency looking for an (allegedly) missing piece to improve the bench, now we have become aware that might need to look for more than that.
As straight free agents and players with options on their contracts expect to explore the trade market riding the success and securing better paydays, LA might end up with a solid core of two of the best players in the league, but no one to surround them with, in need to build another contender (almost) from scratch on yet again short-term contracts.
Changing the roster right after winning a championship is something we have rarely seen and with disappointing results (Dallas 2012), but this time the Lakers could find themselves forced in the situation.
However, James and Davis are a solid (to say the least) starting point, and, after all, it could be just all smoke. They could very well begin next season with the same team that won the championship. Anyway, what we have learned from the Magic Johnson-Rob Pelinka tenure (now only Pelinka) is that they never act unprepared. They already have contingency plans if plan A fails.
The team has already tried to get rid of Deng’s contract’s remnants applying a career-ending injury exception to get him off the books and maybe prepare for a battling free agency, one that could shape LA’s destiny for the next season and the ones to come.
Taking an open-minded approach and keeping all possibilities in consideration, we are going to take a look at 10 possible free agents in the upcoming market who make sense and less so for the Lakers.