Los Angeles Lakers: 5 minimum signings that would’ve been perfect in LA

Mar 28, 2021; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Dennis Schroder (17) guards Orlando Magic forward Otto Porter Jr. (22) as he heads down court in the first half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 28, 2021; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Dennis Schroder (17) guards Orlando Magic forward Otto Porter Jr. (22) as he heads down court in the first half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
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3. Otto Porter Jr.

Otto Porter Jr. also signed with the Golden State Warriors this offseason and also would have been a great signing for the Los Angeles Lakers. Notice a trend? I promise it was not intentional.

Otto Porter is a classic case study in the NBA and there have been so many other players like him in the league. Porter was painfully overpaid and thus had one of the worst contracts in the league for quite some time.

While there is no denying that his contract was atrocious, it ended up undervaluing Porter as everyone was so focused on his contract and not what he was offering on the court. The same can be said for Nicolas Batum, who proved he still has worth to a contender on the Los Angeles Clippers.

Porter is a great rotation player and is someone who would is easily good enough to be the seventh or eighth-best player on a title-winning team, which is what the Lakers strive to be.

He is a great three-point shooter, shooting 40.2% across his entire career, is a league-average defensive player at worst and is still only 28 years old.

Yes, there would have been a bit of roster overlap as Porter is a wing who is best suited to play the three. That being said, he is a better player at this point in his career than Kent Bazemore.

Iguodala is the more popular name that people respect but Porter is younger and better at this stage of his career as well, hence why he ranks ahead of him.