3 Lakers free agents who have already earned a spot on next year’s team
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Lakers completely reinvented the roster at the trade deadline. The result didn’t just yield a roster that was more talented but a roster that is younger and gives the team more options to pursue this summer.
There are some decisions that the Lakers are going to have to make over the summer that currently seem unclear. However, there are also decisions that the team is going to make that are naturally going to be no-brainers.
That is the case with these three upcoming Lakers free agents.
3 Lakers free agents who have already earned a spot on next year’s team
Troy Brown Jr.
Troy Brown Jr. was signed early in NBA free agency last summer seemingly because of his status as a Klutch client. There was a trio of Klutch clients signed in the early stages of free agency in Brown, Lonnie Walker IV and Juan Toscano-Anderson. Walker had the lead early but Brown has emerged as the best.
Brown stepped up early when LeBron James hurt his foot and was one of the main reasons why the Lakers were able to rattle off some wins without their star player. His red-hot shooting from beyond the arc was incredibly important as he provided quality minutes at forward.
Despite his strong play in that stretch, Brown probably is not going to get much more than a minimum deal this offseason. At that price, the Lakers would be foolish to not bring him back simply to provide depth.
Being able to bring back quality role players is a great thing and something the Lakers have not done enough of. They are not going to find anyone substantially better than Brown in free agency at that price, so might as well run it back.