3 defensive free agents that are still available for the Lakers

By Jason Reed | Aug 3, 2022

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2. Michael Carter-Williams

Michael Carter-Williams is another player who should at least get a training camp invite from the Los Angeles Lakers as there is potential there for him to prove that he can be a legitimate NBA rotation player this upcoming season.

Like Dunn, Carter-Williams is coming off of an injured season in which he did not play a single minute for the Orlando Magic. He already was not the most valuable role player in the league and not playing for an entire year definitely hurts your value on the free-agent market.

That being said, it is not like Carter-Williams played a small role in his last season played with the Orlando Magic. He averaged 25.8 minutes per game for the Magic during the 2020-21 season and played good defense for a bad Magic team.

Carter-Williams does not have a jump shot and that only makes the Lakers’ three-point shooting woes worse but it is not like there are many sharpshooting options available on the free agent market.

When it comes to defense, Carter-Williams is an athletic, long guard that can close out on the perimeter and even match up with some forwards that want to drive to the rim. The former 11th overall pick has a Defensive Box Plus/Minus of 0.6 (above average) and has peaked at 2.2 as recently as the 2018-19 season. That is Caruso-levels of DBPM.

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