4 players from the 2020 Lakers we wish were still on the team

By Jason Reed | Mar 6, 2022

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 11: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates with Quinn Cook #28 of the Los Angeles Lakers and teammates after winning the 2020 NBA Championship in Game Six of the 2020 NBA Finals at AdventHealth Arena at the ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on October 11, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images) /

3 of 5

(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

2. Alex Caruso

In reality, Alex Caruso is the true no. 1 player on this list in my heart but I wanted to shake it up and shock some of the return readers here at Lake Show Life. Everyone who reads my work here (thank you!) is probably sick of me bringing up Alex Caruso.

If you are one of those people that have read this Caruso spiel multiple times, you can click over to the next page.

There is no reason why the Los Angeles Lakers do not have Alex Caruso on the team this season. The team had his Bird Rights and he ended up signing for a reasonable price. Yes, he would have had a big tax implication with the team so far over the luxury tax but this is a multi-billion dollar franchise that can afford it.

It becomes even more frustrating when you learn the amount that the Lakers low-balled Caruso for. The team outright let its best defensive guard from the previous two seasons walk away for an extremely cheap price.

Caruso was behind just Matisse Thybulle in Defensive Box Plus/Minus over his last two years on the Lakers. He and LeBron were the best two-man lineup in the entire NBA in 2019-20 in terms of net rating.

Yeah, the Lakers could have used that on this year’s team.

Home/Lakers News