The Los Angeles Lakers have had one of the best offseasons in the entire NFL fueled by several savvy signings in free agency. Not only did the Lakers bring back last year’s core but the team improved on it and did so at a great price.
There is still room to add more talent to the roster as well. As it stands right now, there are 13 players under contract with the team not being shy about wanting to sign another center. There is also a case to be made about the Lakers signing a shooting guard, as the only two guards on the roster are Austin Reaves and Max Christie.
This opens the door for two potential signings and with one of the signings (or both) the Lakers may look to bring back a familiar face that won a championship with the team.
Championship-winning Lakers that could return to LA:
1. Danny Green
Danny Green has battled injuries in recent years that have slowed down his production and have made him an interesting free-agent case study. Because of those injuries, Green is still on the market and at least deserves a meeting with the Lake Show.
Sure, he is past his prime and might not even be the same Green that was on the Lakers four years ago. But he can still produce solid three-and-D minutes off the bench, especially if his workload is reduced and he can hone in on the minutes he is getting.
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka has shown a tendency to bring back former Lakers and this would be a solid addition. Green is the exact type of veteran the team should want to take the young shooting guards and small forwards under his wing and if Christie is struggling then LA would have a pretty decent fallback option.
2. Markieff Morris
Unlike Danny Green, Markieff Morris actually played a big role in the Lakers’ 2020 championship run. The midseason addition was one of the best role players on the team during the NBA Playoffs and even had a postseason run that was worth remembering.
Morris shot 42% from beyond the arc in that playoff run, making it the fifth-highest three-point percentage for any Lakers player in a playoff run with at least 60 attempts. At the time it was the fourth-highest but was recently surpassed by Austin Reaves’ red-hot 2023 postseason.
Just imagine if Morris was able to play his way into the back end of the playoff rotation and could put together a similar postseason run. If he and Reaves shot similarly then that would give the Lakers two great off-ball options.
Markieff Morris checks the boxes the Lakers are currently looking for
It seems like a matter of if, not when, the Lakers will sign another center. The team has also insisted that it is looking for a floor-spacing big, which Morris would certainly provide.
Morris is not a traditional five but with Anthony Davis and Jaxson Hayes already on the roster the team may not need a traditional five. The Lakers just need someone who can log center minutes off the bench while providing a different offensive outlook. Morris is that guy.
3. JaVale McGee
JaVale McGee is not yet on the market but he is still someone who could be back in Los Angeles in time for Opening Night. McGee is currently on the Dallas Mavericks but all signs are pointing to Dallas moving on and getting him off the books somehow.
This could mean a straight-up buyout from Dallas or it could involve McGee getting moved in a trade and then bought out. Either way, there is a viable path for McGee to hit the open market and at that point, he would just be ring-chasing and would look to sign with a contender.
What better contender to sign with than a team he is already familiar with where he can live in sunny Southern California? Seems like the perfect situation for McGee, but what about the Lakers?
JaVale McGee isn’t perfect for the Lakers but is better than most options
McGee certainly does not check the box of being a floor-spacing big and if that is a non-negotiable for the Lakers then McGee will never be considered. However, there are not many great options out there for LA with McGee being better than most.
It very well could come down to the Lakers not having many viable options instead of McGee. In a perfect world, the team would be able to sign him to a non-guaranteed deal to potentially move off of him in the future in order to get a big that better fits what LA needs.
But let’s be honest, floor-spacing bigs will be a dime a dozen at the trade deadline (look at Mo Bamba last year). So just getting McGee for the time being and putting off the need until a better option is available is not the worst idea.