Wesley Matthews: D+
Wesley Matthews was viewed as the replacement for Danny Green, who was traded for Dennis Schroder last offseason. Green was not that great for the Lakers the year prior and based on what Matthews could do, it seemed like the team got an even swap when it comes to three and D wings.
That was not the case. While Green was not elite or anything for Philly, the Lakers got worse in Matthews. I still would have done the move 100 times out of 100 because of Schroder and how bad Green was in the playoffs, but perhaps the Lakers should have pursued a different veteran wing.
Wesley Matthews just never got going for the Lakers. He was not a real three-point threat at all and was not that great on the defensive end. He did his part to help the team’s great overall defense but he was not someone who you could stick on the other team’s scoring guard/forward and be comfortable with.
Matthews shot a terrible 33.5% from beyond the arc and posted a negative Value Over Replacement Player. He was not good for the Lakers last season and some of his other advanced numbers were carried simply by the team being so good defensively.
Matthews was not going to make or break the Lakers and the team could have won the title even with him playing that poorly.