Ranking the 4 most-likely options for the Lakers last roster spot

1. Joe Harris

The best-case scenario for the final roster spot on the Los Angeles Lakers is sharpshooter Joe Harris. Ironically, he does not seem like someone who the Lakers want to add to the roster this offseason.

If the Los Angeles Lakers do pull off a Kyrie Irving trade then there is a good chance that another player will be involved. Brooklyn is a tax-paying team and they are not going to want to take on the massive tax implication of taking on more salary in a trade by acquiring Russell Westbrook.

Thus, attaching someone like Harris, who makes $18.6 million this season and $19.9 million next season, makes sense. Of course, the Lakers are also a taxpaying team and they likely don’t want to take on much more salary either.

If this is the only way to make a Kyrie trade, especially if the Nets are willing to do it for just a first-round pick, then the Lakers have to make that deal every single time. The Lakers can’t push this narrative that they are trying to contend while not wanting to dip into too many future assets and also not wanting to spend too much money.

Pick a lane. If the Lakers really want to contend then they are either going to have to spend more money or spend draft capital. If the team doesn’t want to do either then it doesn’t want to contend, simple as that.

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The most ironic part about all this is that Harris is genuinely perfect for LA from a basketball standpoint. He is the best off-ball shooter in the league and would give the Lakers an elite shooting presence to mask the other shooting holes on the roster.