3. Andre Drummond
You probably were not expecting to see Andre Drummond‘s name on this list as his short tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers did not go as well as planned. Drummond was brought in as a buyout signing before the Lakers’ playoff run and he did not pan out how the team expected.
Drummond was simply causing a spacing issue alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the playoffs, so much to the point where the team had to stop playing him playoff minutes. That spacing would not be any better with Russell Westbrook on the team as well.
However, it isn’t like the Lakers have committed to going small. They are doing the same thing with the spacing but instead of Andre Drummond, they have either Dwight Howard or DeAndre Jordan.
Drummond is better than both Howard and Jordan, particularly Jordan, who has looked awful thus far this season. If the Lakers would have kept Drummond around and brought in Howard then the team would have had a better outlook, at least for the regular season.
The chances of Drummond returning were always slim because of his bad experience in LA. However, he took a backup role with the 76ers so perhaps the Lakers could have convinced him to come back and play 18 or so minutes per game.