5. Danuel House
Right before free agency officially began in July, Jovan Buha of The Athletic — who is perhaps the most plugged-in reporter as far as the Lakers are concerned — reported on several players that the Lakers were potentially going to target with their MLE.
One of those players was former Houston Rockets role player and current Philadelphia 76ers role player, Danuel House. Several of the other players that were mentioned as targets either signed for more or have played well this season. House was the one name that Lakers fans should be happy that the team avoided.
House signed a two-year deal with the 76ers that is worth less than what Walker is getting with the Lakers. If the Lakers would have offered the TPMLE to House then he very well could have accepted. Walker getting surprisingly let go by the Spurs was a blessing.
House always felt a tad overrated as a role player on the James Harden-centric Rockets teams and his play this season would indicate that to be the case. House has had a decent role, averaging 17.8 minutes per game, but really has not done much in that time.
The 29-year-old forward is averaging 4.3 points and 1.7 rebounds while shooting 43.9% from the field and 34.8% from three. That would have actually been great on the Lakers this season but it still is not impressive.
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House has simply been extremely inefficient offensively and it has bled into the advanced numbers. Among the 260 players with 200 or more minutes this season, House ranks 213th in BPM.