The Los Angeles Lakers have the means to add one more buyout player to the roster this season. The team has already signed someone impactful in Andre Drummond and there is an ideal target on the market that would have just as big of an impact.
If you are a frequent reader of Lake Show Life (first, thank you!) then you know that impactful player is Otto Porter Jr. Porter was traded to the Orlando Magic as part of the Nikola Vucevic trade and has a rather large salary.
Porter did not play on Sunday for the Magic, although it has not been reported whether or not the Magic plan on buying him out. If so, that is the guy that the Los Angeles Lakers should go after.
The Lakers do need a backup plan if Porter is not bought out or signs with another team if he is. They are potentially interested in just the right guy.
Ben McLemore is the perfect plan B option for the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Houston Rockets waived Ben McLemore earlier this week and according to Evan Massey of Hoop Analysis Network, the Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers have expressed interest in McLemore.
McLemore should not be the Lakers’ first interest. However, the Lakers are running out of time to bring in a buyout signing and McLemore very well could be the player that the team brings in if the reported interest is legitimate.
McLemore is not anything to get overly excited about but he does add the dynamic that the Lakers are looking for in a buyout signing. He is a solid-enough three and D player that can get hot from beyond the arc at any given time.
McLemore has not been great this season but he has not been in the best situation in Houston. He is shooting 33.1% from beyond the arc this season. However, he was shooting a combined 38.7% from beyond the arc the previous four seasons combined.
McLemore is not a great defender but he is serviceable and in a well-coached defensive team like the Lakers he would definitely be able to hold his own.
The Lakers are not a team that is going to live and die by the three but it is beneficial to have shooting depth. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope can be inconsistent, Dennis Schroder’s efficiency has dropped tremendously and Wesley Matthews is nowhere close to the impact that was expected.
Alex Caruso and Talen Horton-Tucker are not great shooters either. The backcourt could use another shooter and who knows, maybe McLemore can hit some big shots in the playoffs.
Sometimes it is the smallest moves that have a big impact. While Markieff Morris is not one of the first players mentioned when we talk about the Lakers’ 17th championship, he did have a big role on the team in the playoffs.
Morris shot 42.1% from beyond the arc on 69 attempts in the playoffs. Only two players in franchise history have shot better from beyond the arc in as many attempts in a single playoff (Trevor Ariza, Michael Cooper).
Ben McLemore is the perfect plan B for the Los Angeles Lakers and fans should be excited if he becomes a Laker.