Lake Show Life
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The worst player to start at every position in Lakers history

By Jason Reed

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 14: Russell Westbrook #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers claps to the crowd prior to the game agains the San Antonio Spurs at Staples Center on November 14, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. 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 Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 14: Russell Westbrook #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers claps to the crowd prior to the game agains the San Antonio Spurs at Staples Center on November 14, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. 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 Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images) /
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Worst starting small forward in Lakers franchise history: Luol Deng

Remember when Mitch Kupchak went on a spending spree for bad players in his last offseason as the general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers? Yeah, that still had implications this past season as the Lakers still had Luol Deng’s salary on the books after giving him the stretch provision.

Luckily, Deng finally comes off the books for the 2022-23 season. The Lakers no longer have to pay someone who last played 22 games in the 2018-19 season.

This is a similar situation to Russell Westbrook where the impact that Deng’s contract had on the team was unquestionably bad. However, Deng did not turn the Lakers from a contender into a team that missed the playoffs. They were already in horrible shape and Rob Pelinka was able to clean up the mess.

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While that is part of the reason why Deng is on this list, he is mostly on this list because he was outright bad during his time with the Lakers. There is a reason why the team quickly got rid of him and why he was quickly out of the league. He was awful.

Deng technically spent two seasons with the Lakers and started 49 of 56 games he played in during the 2016-17 season. He appeared in one game, starting it, the following season.

The former all-star averaged 7.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 26.3 minutes per game. He shot an abysmal 38.7% from the field, 30.9% from three and 73% from the free-throw line all while being a negative on the defensive end.

Deng finished his Lakers career with a -2.1 BPM, which is one of the worst marks in franchise history. Ironically enough, Brandon Ingram finished his Lakers career with a worse BPM but there is no way to include him on this list.

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