The Los Angeles Lakers currently have 14 players on the roster with one more spot to hand out before the 2022-23 season begins. There is no rush for the Lakers to make this signing, especially with a Russell Westbrook trade in the balance.
That trade could either open up more roster spots for the Lakers to utilize or close that final roster spot if the team acquires more players than it is sending out.
Summer League standout Cole Swider played well enough in Las Vegas to be considered for the roster spot and with his deadeye shooting, he would be a nice addition to the rotation. However, it appears that the Lakers might not be going the youth route, and might instead go the route of bringing back an old friend.
The Lakers might be saving that last roster spot for Carmelo Anthony.
Sean Deveney of Heavy.com reported that a rival NBA GM expects Carmelo Anthony to return to the Lakers next season. The report outlines how a deal won’t happen soon with a possible impending trade, which makes complete sense.
Re-signing Carmelo would be an interesting move by the Lakers. On one hand, Los Angeles has primarily focused on bringing in youth this offseason and Carmelo would directly go against that. On the other hand, the Lakers cannot shoot and Carmelo can, which he proved in a solid season off the bench last year.
Even more interesting is the fact that Carmelo’s number has been taken by Troy Brown Jr. Melo obviously has more pull than Brown and can likely get the number back but who knows, maybe he switches back to double zero once Westbrook and the singular zero is traded off the team.
Personally, I would rather see the Lakers go in favor of youth and give Swider a look. With how he shot the ball, and how bad Carmelo is defensively, Swider may actually be the better option for the team next season.
That being said, if they don’t suspect he will have a big role in the rotation and instead want him to rack up minutes in the G League that is understandable. It would be more beneficial for Swider to play 35 minutes a game in the G League while being a two-way option rather than him playing eight minutes a game in the NBA.
Insider confirms how painfully close Lakers were to avoiding Westbrook
NBA insider Jovan Buha of The Athletic confirmed how close the Lakers were to avoiding trading for Russell Westbrook last offseason.
Regardless, Carmelo’s Lake Show career might not just be a one-and-done as the purple and gold very well could be preparing to bring back one of LeBron James’ best buds.