4 Lakers who definitely won't be back next season
By Will Eudy
It is safe to say this was not the season the Los Angeles Lakers envisioned coming into the year. Last summer, LA's front office seemed to be ahead of the game. They made some seemingly brilliant moves in re-signing many of their key players including Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, D'Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt, while also adding key reserves like Christian Wood.
But as the year wore on, injuries and lineup inconsistencies were a few of the big factors that led this team to struggle. Despite LeBron James still performing at an All-Star level and Anthony Davis having one of the best seasons of his career, the Lakers were still limping to the finish line, needing a Play-In victory to even make it into the playoffs.
And once they got there, it was their worst nightmare in facing the defending champions once again. After being knocked out by the Nuggets two seasons in a row, LA will have to do some major soul-searching this summer, and there are a few players on the roster who will almost certainly not be back for next season.
1. Spencer Dinwiddie
A lot of NBA coaches will say that finding an identity is important. Having a set mindset of how you want to play matters a lot, and that is something the Lakers pretty clearly lacked all season. Something that contributed to this being the case was losing their newly acquired backup point guard right at the start of the year.
LA invested pretty heavily in Gabe Vincent, signing him to a three-year, $33 million deal this past offseason after seeing his solid contributions with the Miami Heat. But just four games into the season, Vincent went down with a knee injury that he would later undergo surgery for, keeping him off the court until his ultimate return on March 31.
With Gabe on the sidelines, the Lakers needed an additional ball-handler, and they signed Spencer Dinwiddie as a temporary replacement. He has had a few one-off games of hot shooting this season, but the front office will not be looking at him as any kind of long-term fixture with this team.