Los Angeles Lakers: 2 recent lottery-pick free agents to take a flier on

1. Dennis Smith Jr.

Dennis Smith Jr. was selected by the Dallas Mavericks with the ninth overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft and the point guard got off to a promising start in his career. Smith looked to at least be a good rotation player in the NBA and there were definitely higher expectations for him.

Smith burst into the league and averaged 15.2 points, 5.2 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game. Anyone that is entrenched in the advanced analytics knows that his season was not as impressive as his baseline box score as he was inefficient and was not the best defender.

However, the seeds were still placed and in the right system with the right role it is not absurd to think that Smith can be a valuable rotation player. He definitely would have to change from the play that he has been thus far in his career but change is not impossible.

Smith turns 24 this November. Sure, things are bad, but he is still extremely young and has not necessarily been in the best situations. He played on a bad Dallas team, was traded to a bad New York team and had a brief stint with a bad Detroit team. Many players would struggle in that same situation.

The Los Angeles Lakers are stacked in the backcourt and it would be a developmental project more than anything. But instead of signing a veteran to not play any minutes, perhaps the Lakers see something in Smith and can sign him to not play much but work on his game and be part of the team in the future.

If not Smith, there is another recent lottery guard that could have the same potential.