Los Angeles Lakers roster: 3 players under the most pressure this season

3. Kendrick Nunn

This is a money thing for Kendrick Nunn. Nunn burst onto the scene with the Miami Heat as an undrafted prospect and was great during the 2019-20 season. Nunn was elevated to the starting point guard and even pushed out Goran Dragic, who became a great sixth man.

Nunn played really well in the starting five for the Miami Heat as well. He averaged 15.3 points and 3.3 assists per game. He did get taken out of the playoff rotation in favor of Dragic but only improved in his second year in the league with much more efficient scoring.

Despite being only 26 years old and being a legitimate contributor to a contender Nunn only signed a Taxpayer’s Mid-Level Exception. Nunn could have signed for more with another team but took the classic prove-it deal with a contender.

This is a long-term play by Nunn and he is going to have to play well for it to work out. Nunn is going to make more money in the long run if he goes to a team like the Lakers and plays a big role when the lights are the brightest.

If Nunn is a key contributor to a title run in LA then his market value is only going to increase more. Whereas if he would have signed a decent deal with a bad team he would have been lost in the shuffle.

However, if this does not pan out for Nunn then he will look back at the potential money that he left on the table.