Potential Los Angeles Lakers buyout target: Otto Porter Jr.
Otto Porter is the perfect example of a player who got paid way too much money and his terrible contract led to NBA fans underrating how good he is. Don’t get me wrong, he is far from an elite basketball player, but Porter can still be a solid member of a rotation, especially if he can re-find his form from Washington.
Nicolas Batum was another great example of this. Batum had one of the worst contracts in basketball with the Charlotte Hornets but still had something to offer. Batum has been much better on the Los Angeles Clippers this season. Not great, but certainly serviceable.
That is what Porter could be for the Los Angeles Lakers. Porter was traded to the Orlando Magic as part of the Nikola Vucecic deal and is undoubtedly going to get bought out. There is no reason for the Magic to pay out the rest of his contract and they will save all the money that they can on this deal.
Porter has not been as efficient of a scorer in recent seasons but his defense has still be serviceable. He is far from a great defensive player, but he certainly can hold his own as the second-best defensive wing on the court or as a bench wing.
There is potential for his scoring to return. He is still shooting the basketball really well and is a career 40.4% three-point shooter. His effective field goal percentage has fallen from 60.8% four years ago to 53.5% now, but the Lakers could put him in the right spot to get some of that efficiency back.
The Lakers need shooters and would definitely benefit from a scoring bump, especially with the two stars out. Porter is someone who could come in and play 20 minutes per game while AD and LeBron are out and give the Lakers a clean 10-5-2 almost every night.