Why the Los Angeles Lakers won’t make a single buyout signing
By Jason Reed
2. The more desirable buyout targets will want to stay far away from the Lakers
There are some potential big-name buyout names in the likes of Derrick Favors, Gary Harris and Dennis Schroder. Not every one of the big-name players will be bought out and there will also be some surprising players who are not expected that will be bought out as well.
Regardless of who it is, those big-name buyout players are going to have the Lakers well down their list of potential suitors. The first reason is obvious. Buyout players target teams who can win the championship not only to get that ring but to also raise their free-agent value as a role player on a title team.
There are at least 10 teams in the league that have a better chance of winning the title than the 27-33 Lakers. This is the worst team of LeBron’s career, after all.
However, you could still make the case that a buyout guy would favor the Lakers over a smaller-market contending team, like the Nuggets or Jazz, because they play on such a big spotlight to raise their value.
The problem is that the Lakers are extremely dysfunctional right now and anyone joining this circus might actually lower their free-agent value in the process. There is nothing desirable about joining the Los Angeles Lakers right now.
Unless they are a Klutch client and owe LeBron James a huge favor, there really are not any reasons for a buyout player to choose the Lakers.