The Los Angeles Lakers have had to deal with a lot of early adversity in the 2023-24 season. Los Angeles’ deep roster has certainly been put to the test early on this season as several rotation players have already missed multiple games (and will continue to miss games) thus far.
Those that are playing are not playing as well as fans would have hoped. Cam Reddish has surprisingly gotten a bigger role than expected and has not done much offensively for the Lake Show. He is shooting 12% from three and bricked the game-winning shot against the Miami Heat on Monday.
His role was meant to go to Max Christie, or so it seemed in the offseason. However, the second-year second-round pick doesn’t appear ready for a larger role in the rotation on a contending team. In the chances that Christie has gotten he has not impressed.
This leaves a sizeable hole behind Austin Reaves and is one that the Lakers may look to patch up for the time being with the 15th roster spot. Amid all the injuries and this disappointing play, the Lake Show may look to bring back a familiar face solely for depth purposes.
Lakers may pursue Danny Green amid Cam Reddish/Max Christie struggles
Danny Green became a roster casualty from the James Harden trade and hit the open market as a result. Philadelphia was bringing in too many players in return for Harden so the team was forced to waive Green simply to make the trade work.
While Green has not ruled out a reunion with the 76ers, a reunion with the Lake Show has to at least be on the table with how the early portion of the season has gone. This Lakers team desperately needs one more wing/two-guard that can fill in off the bench.
Green is far past his prime and is not even the same player that he was during his first stint with the Lake Show. However, he is still a solid, experienced veteran who can come in and give Los Angeles 12-15 solid minutes of competent play off the bench.
Green is still an average perimeter defender at worse and can hit shots at a much higher rate than Reddish can. The two-time NBA Champion has shot 39.7% from beyond the arc since leaving Los Angeles. That is far better than Reddish. Perhaps Green would have actually made the game-winner against the Heat.
It makes a lot of sense from a basketball standpoint to bring Green in. The only counterpoint against Green is if the Lakers wanted to keep that roster spot open for a potential buyout candidate.
However, the buyout market won’t truly formulate until March and by then, the Lakers could easily create another roster spot by trading multiple smaller contracts for one player at the deadline. It would be silly to not address a weakness of the roster now because of the potential of a marginal improvement in four months.
But hey, Darvin Ham seems to have a lot of faith in Reddish, so maybe he will just keep throwing him out there and drawing up game-winning looks for him despite his shooting woes.
Tonight’s a perfect spot for Reddish to get right vs. the Rockets and FanDuel Sportsbook is giving you a $150 bonus if the Lakers win! If you bet at least $5 (with a $10 deposit) on the Lakers’ moneyline odds to beat the Rockets, you’ll get an extra $150 in bonus bets if they do. Sign up for FanDuel now and let’s take advantage of an easy matchup!