The Los Angeles Lakers made a wave of signings when free agency began and action around the team has since slowed down. The team is currently in a holding pattern as it waits on a potential Kyrie Irving deal. If that falls through, the next order of business is finding a new trade partner for Russell Westbrook.
As it currently stands, the Lakers have one open roster spot on the team with the ability to make more. The team could either trade away more players than they are getting in return or could even waive guys like Wenyen Gabriel if they really wanted to open up a roster spot.
It is not super clear what else the Lakers want to add to the roster for next season. If the team wants to add defensive players there are options, and perhaps they could at least be training camp workouts for the team.
3 defensive free agents that are still available for the Lakers:
1. Kris Dunn
If you are a frequent reader of Lake Show Life then you know all about Kris Dunn. At his best, Dunn was one of the best defensive guards in the league who is reminiscent of Alex Caruso. Dunn does things that do not show up in the box score as he hustles on the defensive end and makes plays happen on the perimeter.
That got him paid two summers ago but the problem is that Dunn has been unable to escape the injury bug since then. Now, despite being only 28 years old and recently putting together a fantastic defensive season, Dunn’s NBA value has plummeted.
At the very least the Lakers should be bringing Dunn in for a training camp workout to see how he meshes with this current group of guys. LA has been unable to replace Alex Caruso defensively and if Dunn can return to form, he could be that guy.
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.
3. Jeremy Lamb
Jeremy Lamb was traded to the Sacramento Kings from the Indiana Pacers last season as part of the Domantas Sabonis trade. Lamb was very obviously a piece that was thrown in just as a contract as the Kings have not made an effort to re-sign him this summer.
The Lakers reportedly expressed interest in trading for Lamb during the 2021-22 season and now with the opportunity to sign him for the league minimum, Lamb could become a Laker. It seemed that Lamb would get something above the minimum this summer but at this point in the process, that is all he will get.
Lamb is by no means an elite defensive player but he does bring a presence that was lacking on the Lakers last season and likely will be lacking again. He is a solid, serviceable defensive wing that can hold his own and cannot really get targeted all that much on the defensive end.
Lamb shot the ball horribly from three last season but he has shown the ability to shoot over 40% in a season with a decent sample size. Sure, there is always the risk of him continuing to shoot poorly, but the best version of Lamb is a player the Lakers need.
That player is a prototypical three and D wing that can play 20-25 minutes per game, knock down some shots as an off-ball shooter that gives full effort on the defensive end.
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That is what Lamb would bring to the team and quite frankly, it would be a very positive addition.