The rest of the Los Angeles Lakers:
Markieff Morris
Morris plays with a lot of heart and has a very intense edge that he brings to his game. Once again, it’s something that the Los Angeles Lakers were in need of. Markieff seemed to play better when he was in the starting five this past season.
That of course had to do with the list of injuries the Lakers suffered through the season. It wouldn’t hurt the Lakers to keep him another year or two. Morris can shoot the deep ball and he knows what it takes to win as he was part of the Lakers championship roster last season.
Rob Pelinka wants to keep the core of this team together and I feel that Morris has the attitude the team needs.
Verdict: Stay
Andre Drummond
It was a great move by Rob Pelinka to sign him in the middle of the season. Drummond only played in a total of 26 games when you add up the regular season and the playoffs together. That is not a lot of games at all to be quite honest, I think that Drummond was still trying to get used to the Lakers system.
He also had to learn how to play with LeBron and Anthony Davis and further adjust his game. Drummond averaged 11.9 points per game and 10.2 rebounds. Very respectable numbers for a guy that only played for a team for less than half of a season.
He is a dominant force in the middle that the Lakers needed. After all, Marc Gasol no longer plays that role. Anthony Davis can play center of course but the starting five possesses more star power with Drummond plunked down in the middle and Davis at power forward.
The Los Angeles Lakers should definitely re-sign him. He will be able to get a good amount of money, so if they let Dennis Schroder walk and trade Kyle Kuzma, they might be able to get him a solid deal.
Verdict: Stay
Jared Dudley, Devontae Cacock, and Kostas Antetokounmpo
Jared Dudley is nearing the end of his career and coming off a knee injury. Cacock and Antetokounmpo really haven’t served as spark plugs for the team and to be quite fair and objective, they didn’t get the time to do so but that is the position that they served on this very talented roster. That being said, the Lakers should let them walk.
Verdict: Go
Ben McLemore
McLemore is a three-point shooter. It’s what he specializes in and while there were times when he was in a groove, his game is sort of limited. There are other free agents out there on the market that have the deep shooting ability that he has as well as other elements of their game such as players like Kelly Olynyk and Doug McDermott. Even though they would be able to get him for a decent price, they should look for other players.
Verdict: Go