The Los Angeles Lakers have been incredibly busy during NBA free agency and have been getting a lot of praise from the media. After making the Western Conference Finals a year ago, the Lake Show has seemingly built a roster that is deeper than last year while also maintaining important continuity.
While the overall picture is undoubtedly great, each individual move still deserves its own analysis. Not every signing the Lakers have made is equal, and not every signing is a good one. Let’s dive into the grades, in chronological order.
Lakers sign Taurean Prince: A
The first reported move the Lakers made in free agency was signing Taurean Prince to the Bi-Annual Exception. Prince was waived by the Minnesota Timberwolves to make room under the luxury tax and the Lakers did not waste any time bringing Prince in.
This is such a great wing addition to a roster that needed more wing depth. Prince has proven to be a reliable rotation player in his NBA career that can knock down shots off the ball while also playing above-average defense on the other end.
Despite not being in LA last year, this also helps with the team’s continuity as he is reuniting with several of his former Minnesota teammates. It is almost impossible to get more value out of the Bi-Annual Exception than what the Lakers got in signing Prince.
Lakers sign Gabe Vincent: D
We know it is really easy to get very excited about every single singing the Lakers make. Some fans don’t like to see critical assessments of certain moves as everything has to be viewed through rose-colored glasses.
At the end of the day, the Gabe Vincent signing is the worst of the moves that the Lakers have made so far and is the most likely to be the one the team regrets. That does not mean it is guaranteed to fail but there are reasons to be concerned.
Vincent had a red-hot few weeks in the NBA Playoffs and that is ultimately what led to him getting signed by the Lakers. However, throughout his career, Vincent has been an undersized guard who is fine (but not great) defensively but has such a negative impact on the offensive end.
He has been an extremely streaky shooter throughout his career and his serviceable defense has not made up for his offensive efficiencies. Sure, he got hot in the playoffs but he is still a career 33% three-point shooter.
Maybe Vincent can parlay this strong run in the playoffs into long-term success and that is obviously what every fan wants to see. But there is also a world in which Vincent is like Talan Horton-Tucker was for LA two years ago: an okay defender that was so bad offensively that it hurt the team.
Now let’s get back to praising the moves that the Lakers made, as this truly is the only one worth dissecting in such a critical manner.
Lakers re-sign Rui Hachimura: B
One of the more impactful trades from the 2023 trade deadline was the Lakers shipping multiple second-round picks and Kendrick Nunn to the Washington Wizards for Rui Hachimura. Los Angeles pulled off this trade before the deadline frenzy and it ended being more than worth it.
Not only did Hachimura play a key role in the Lakers’ playoff success as the team’s best player off the bench but the Lakers were able to recoup the second-round picks by trading Thomas Bryant to the Denver Nuggets. LA essentially flipped Bryant and Nunn for Hachimura, which was a huge win.
The Lakers are not letting Hachimura go anywhere as they signed the restricted free agent to a three-year, $51 million contract. That might seem like a huge contract but in today’s NBA with the contracts being handed out, $17 million a year is not so bad.
Sure, it might be a bit overpriced and in a perfect world, the Lakers could have signed Hachimura to a $12-15 million average annual salary. And maybe they could have if the team let the process play out as no other teams may have offered Hachimura $50 million for the Lakers to match.
But those extra few million really won’t make a tangible difference, especially considering the fact that the team was able to save so much money in other areas.
Lakers sign Cam Reddish: A-
Cam Reddish has been connected to the Los Angeles Lakers for years and the team finally made good on those rumors by signing him to a minimum contract this summer. While Reddish undoubtedly has flaws and has been underwhelming thus far in his career, there are reasons to be hopeful.
There are very few teams that get as much out of role players as the Lakers and fans can trust in the player development process, led by Phil Handy, to get more value out of Reddish than any other team has thus far.
It worked with Malik Monk and it very well could work with Reddish, who might end up playing a very important role for this team as a depth wing.
Lakers sign Jaxson Hayes: B+
Might as well bunch these two signings together as they are practically the same. Just like with Reddish, the Lakers are taking a bet on a young lottery player who has been slightly disappointing but also hasn’t fully tapped into his potential.
Los Angeles probably should add another veteran big just as insurance for Jaxson Hayes (and Anthony Davis, who is injury prone) but it is still smart to take a flier on someone who was recently taken with the eighth overall pick.
Best of all, by signing Hayes, Reddish and Hachimura, the Lakers now have the eighth, ninth and 10th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, making the 2019 AD trade even more lopsided for LA.
Lakers re-sign D’Angelo Russell: C+
D’Angelo Russell is coming off of a horrible Western Conference Finals that saw all of his issues come to light. Casual basketball fans see Russell’s ball-handling and shot-making ability and mistake that for greatness (in large part because that is what AAU culture has created as good basketball).
When in reality, Russell has serious flaws that hurt a team. There is a reason why every team that has had him was in no rush to keep him. He gets ice cold, can check out of games mentally and doesn’t make the right plays or rotations on defense.
We said it here at Lake Show Life when the Lakers traded for him: Russell has similar tendencies as Russell Westbrook, but not as bad. What made D’Lo so much better is he wasn’t draining the locker room and he can get hot with his shooting.
So why is this a C+ instead of a bad grade? Well, the Lakers kind of had to do it. The alternative was letting Russell walk in free agency. If that happened, the Lakers couldn’t simply recoup the cap space they spent on Russell as they spent it using Bird Rights.
At two years for $39 million the Lakers are not paying an arm and a leg for Russell and it won’t hurt the team in the long run. Heck, it wouldn’t be that shocking if Russell is traded at the deadline or next summer for a larger return. Keep the asset now, figure out the rest later.
Lakers re-sign Austin Reaves: A+
This is the move of the offseason for the Los Angeles Lakers and might just be the best move in the entire league. There are naturally going to be naysayers like Colin Cowherd who simply don’t get it but Austin Reaves is a legitimate difference-maker that is returning to the purple and gold.
Reaves has continually gotten better in Los Angeles since the team signed him as an undrafted free agent. Fans have seen Reaves level up in the time he has been a pro and what he showed in the NBA Playoffs was legitimately special.
Reaves was the third-best player on a Lakers team that made the Western Conference Finals. There were countless times when the Lakers’ offense was at its best when it was running through Reaves. Would the Lakers have at least lasted longer against the Denver Nuggets if they went to Reaves more down the stretch? Probably.
Reaves always seemed like a lock to come back to the team but nobody expected him to return to Los Angeles for under $60 million. Even if another team didn’t want Reaves (which they should have), they should have at least offered him a max sheet to force the Lakers to pay the absolute most.
But that is not what happened. In a market that is seeing players like Jerami Grant get paid twice as much, Reaves is going to make $14 million per year. That is nothing for what he is going to bring as he legitimately could be an all-star before his contract expires.