With the Lakers still looking to improve the roster, a handful of free agent guards still remain as well as some trade targets that could help flesh out L.A.’s backcourt depth.
While the Lakers currently stand at a full 15-man roster, its current construction still does not present itself as a championship caliber team. Now that’s not to say they’re that far off from seriously slotting themselves among one of the top teams in the league. After all they did win fifty games and finished 3rd in the conference last season. They surely have improved on paper but so have the other top teams in the west.
Most notably, the Houston Rockets landed superstar Kevin Durant as well as free agents Dorian Finney-Smith and Clint Capela, solidifying their size and defense in the frontcourt. The Clippers traded Norman Powell for forward John Collins and recently signed Bradley Beal off of his buyout with the Phoenix Suns. Denver brought back Bruce Brown Jr. and traded for Brooklyn’s Cam Johnson.
With roughly two months until training camp, the Lakers still remain in a flexible position to make any necessary adjustments despite having a full roster at the moment. Expiring contracts are highly coveted around the league and the Lakers possess roughly $43 million in tradeable expiring contracts (excluding LeBron James).
Depending on how much salary L.A. sends out and receives in a potential trade, they can regain their access to the bi-annual exception ($5,134,000) to use on a free agent(s).
The Lakers also have to decide by July 20th whether or not they want to waive Shake Milton’s non-guaranteed contract worth $3 million this upcoming season. Doing so also opens up an extra roster spot.
Best Available Free Agent Guards
Now that L.A. has addressed their starting center position, they could use a boost in guard production off the bench, ideally defensive guards. Some of the top unrestricted free agent guards on the market as of July 18th include De’Anthony Melton, Josh Okogie, Chris Paul, Amir Coffey, Russell Westbrook, Malcolm Brogdon, Ben Simmons, and Gary Payton II.
An emphasis on point of attack (POA) defense should be the Lakers’ priority. Melton, Okogie, Coffey, Brogdon and Payton II all fit that defensive-minded mold and most likely won’t command anything higher than the veteran minimum. Ideally, adding one or two of these guys would really bring a solid defensive identity to the bench alongside Jarred Vanderbilt and Jake LaRavia. The more defensive depth at L.A.’s disposal gives them a much more versatile rotation to work with.
Potential Trade Targets
The Lakers could also look to the trade market for players with similar archetypes, defensive minded guards and wings. Matisse Thybulle from Portland ($11.5 million) and Marcus Smart from Washington ($21.3 million) are two guards with valued defensive capabilities. However, Smart is a potential buyout candidate and may just become a free agent.
Ayo Donsumo from the Chicago Bulls ($7 million) would be a great addition off the bench. While he doesn’t have quite the defensive reputation as the guards mentioned above, he can provide a severely needed scoring boost off the bench. He averaged 12.3 points a game to go along with 4.5 assists.
The Lakers may also need to address their starting wing position, but building a reliable guard rotation to backup Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic puts this team that much closer to forming a contending team.
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