The Los Angeles Lakers rumors around who the team wants to bring in for the final roster spots have been growing. As it currently stands, the Lakers have 12 players on the roster and will likely reach the 14 mark before the season, leaving the 15th roster spot open for acquisition, such as a buyout signing.
The Lakers reportedly worked out Isaiah Thomas, Darren Collison and Mike James, indicating that they might be looking at a point guard for one of the final two usable roster spots.
The other Lakers rumors indicate that the team is looking for another wing. James Ennis was connected to the Lakers in a report by NBA Marc Stein, who also now reports that the Lakers are considering wings JaKarr Sampson and Tim Frazier as well.
These are two new names to the rumor mill and Laker fans might not be all that familiar with either Sampson or Frazier. If you are, don’t worry, because the chances of the Lakers actually signing either player are slim, or so we hope.
Lakers rumors: Why the Los Angeles Lakers likely won’t sign JaKarr Sampson or Tim Frazier.
Both Sampson and Frazier are wing players who really have not done much in the league. Sampson has been in the league since 2014 and has sporadically spent time with different teams in small roles. He has only played 236 games, averages 15 minutes per game and does not add much to the team.
He did have one scoring outburst with the Chicago Bulls in which he averaged 20 points in the season… is only four games played. He has a career 47.1% field goal percentage, which is solid, but only shoots 24.8% from three.
His defense is nothing special, either. While there is some potential there, I would not say that Sampson is great defender by any sense of the word.
Frazier has been more of the same in his NBA career. He has also been in the league since 2014 but has sparingly played, playing in just 277 games and averaging only 17.6 points per game. He too does not shoot the three well, shooting 32.2% in his career, doesn’t shoot it normally all that great, shooting 40.4% overall, and he does not play good defense, posting a -1.7 Defensive Box Plus/Minus the last two seasons.
Quite frankly, neither of these players are really that good. Yes, it is one of the final roster spots on the Lakers and we should not expect some amazing, elite performances, but the Lakers can get better.
James Ennis, who has already been tied to LA and has had some cryptic Twitter activity, is a much better wing option than either Sampson or Frazier. It would make no sense for the Lakers to pass Ennis up in for either Sampson or Frazier. It would be bad basketball.
Laker fans should be upset if the Lakers rumors around JaKarr Sampson and Tim Frazier come true. They have had plenty of time in the league to prove that they are better than their numbers suggest and they simply have not done so.