The Los Angeles Lakers are definitely going to be as active as possible in the free-agent market this offseason. While the team does not have much to spend, it does have some salary-cap tricks to utilize in order to bring in new faces.
The Lakers are going to have to improve before the start of next season as well. Not only should every team be looking to improve every offseason, but the Lakers are also coming off of a disappointing early exit in the playoffs.
The front office is going to prioritize certain free agents over others and there definitely is a realistic best-case scenario at each position. While the Lakers won’t sign all of them, getting one or two could be a real treat.
And just for clarity’s sake, we are not including any possible sign-and-trade free agents in this list, although there are some good options there too.
The best possible free agent at each position for the Los Angeles Lakers:
PG: Spencer Dinwiddie
Spencer Dinwiddie is declining his player option for the 2021-22 season, making him an unrestricted free agent. Dinwiddie only played three games last season due to a torn ACL, lowering his value in the process.
That is a good thing for the Lakers as they could maybe now bring Dinwiddie in on an MLE deal. That would pay him less this season than his player option but would give him another secured year or two on the contract.
While a pay cut might not seem likely, it could make more career sense in the long run to sign a 1-2 year deal with the Lakers, actually have a role in the starting lineup and increase his value for this next contract. There are more hurdles in doing that in Brooklyn.
There are early reports that Dinwiddie is interested in returning home to Los Angeles, so the best-case point guard could become a Laker this offseason after all.