4 burning questions for the Los Angeles Lakers before free agency
By Ed Schrenzel
4. How does Rob Pelinka fill out the rest of the roster?
Last year, Pelinka signed mostly older, past-their-prime veterans in the hope of sprucing up the Lakers’ offense. The two exceptions were players still in the earlier stages of their careers, Monk and Nunn.
This time around the GM says he wants the team to get younger. That can be a difficult goal to achieve due to salary cap limitations, but it’s something the Lakers need to try to do.
Just which players Pelinka pursues will depend in large part on whether the team re-signs either Monk or Anthony or both. If they don’t, adding one or two wing scorers off the bench is imperative. Rookie Christie can potentially help, but he probably first needs professional seasoning.
Perhaps one of the two-way players signed after the draft will prove to be nearly as impactful as Reeves was last season. Scotty Pippen Jr was a big-time scorer for Vanderbilt, averaging over 20 points per game in each of his last two seasons while playing in the tough SEC.
Cole Swider, a 6-9 forward, finished his college career at Syracuse after three years at Villanova, both big-time programs. He proved to be a prolific 3-point shooter, connecting on over 40% of his attempts in his last two seasons.
Time will tell if either player earns court time, but Reeves proved that it’s possible for an undrafted player to succeed.
Pelinka may well be able to sign one or two younger guys in the hope he can uncover another Malik Monk. But the likelihood is that he’ll have to top off the roster once again with older veterans.
The month of July should be a most interesting one in Lakerland as free agents are signed. Fans will be sitting back, crossing their fingers and hoping for the best possible results.