Greatest free agency signings in Los Angeles Lakers history: 4. Jamaal Wilkes
He was the number eleventh pick in the 1974 NBA Draft for the Golden State Warriors. An ultra-talented player standing at 6 foot 6 and playing small forward. The Lakers at the time did not have Magic Johnson just yet as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the main man on the Lakers roster although they had some very other talented players such as Norm Nixon, and Adrian Dantley.
In 1979-80, the Lakers would become the NBA champions on a team that consisted of Kareem, rookie star Magic Johnson, Norm Nixon, Ron Boone, and Michael Cooper. Wilkes played a huge part in the team’s success as he averaged 20.0 points per game and 6.4 rebounds in all 82 games.
He placed second in scoring for the team that year in both the regular season and in the playoffs where he averaged 20.3 points per game and 8 rebounds per game. The next season, Wilkes would once again have a great season as he would average 22.6 points per game for the team and was once again second in scoring behind Kareem.
The same would happen for the 1981-82 Lakers as Wilkes would average 21.1 points per game and help the team capture another ring. He would also average 20.0 points per game in the playoffs that year. In 1984-85, the Lakers would win another title only this time, Wilkes would play a different role as the team now had new and fresh talent with Byron Scott, and James Worthy along with Magic and Kareem.
Wilkes helped the Lakers to three titles in his time in the purple and gold and scored over 10,000 points.