Getty Los Angeles Lakers VP of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka.
Though the NBA will be returning to finish up the season, it’s never too early for the Los Angeles Lakers to start thinking about free agency. This year’s group of free agents isn’t particularly impressive, but the team can definitely find some good contributors.
In his list of ambitious free agents every team should go after, Dan Favale of Bleacher Report suggested the Lakers take a look at former All-Star Goran Dragic:
Marcus Morris Sr. checks just about every box, but the Lakers cannot offer more than the non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception. That won’t convince him to bolt from the Los Angeles Clippers. And with few to no alternative wings worth the Lakers’ time, settling on Goran Dragic is the move.
Bench-heavy lineups that have him spell LeBron as the primary ball-handler would be infinitely more potent than Rajon Rondo-led combinations. He also poses less of an overlap next to LeBron himself.
Spot-up possessions have accounted for more than 15 percent of Dragic’s total offense so far this season. He rates inside the 70th percentile of efficiency in these situations. By comparison, more than 18 percent of Rondo’s offensive possessions have come as spot-ups. He’s in the 27th percentile of efficiency.
Dragic is 34 so his best days are probably behind him. That said, he was in the All-Star game as recently as 2018. If he could serve as the backup point guard to LeBron James, the Lakers bench would be greatly improved.
Anthony Davis Is Prize of Free Agency
Unfortunately for the Lakers, the best player who will be in free agency is on their roster. The drop off after Anthony Davis is quite steep this year. If he does decide to test the waters, there’s no doubt he’ll have a lot of suitors. However, there’s been no indication he’s not happy in Los Angeles.
Should he decided to leave the Lakers, it would be a disaster for the team. There’s no reason to believe that will actually happen and Davis should be suiting up for the purple and gold for at least one more season.
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Other Free Agent Targets for Lakers
If the Lakers miss out on Dragic, there are still some solid options on the market. It was well reported during the trade deadline that the team was interested in Bogdan Bogdanovic. He’s a restricted free agent, so that complicates things. However, if the Lakers like him enough, they’ll try and get him.
DeMar DeRozan’s value has fallen off a cliff since he was traded to the San Antonio Spurs. He hasn’t been nearly as effective the last couple of seasons. He could be an interesting pickup for the Lakers. He’s from Los Angeles and a change of scenery could help him regain All-Star form. Plus, he’d be a lot cheaper these days.
At the end of the day, if the Lakers win a championship, they’ll probably try to keep a lot of the roster intact. Though, they do need to add a competent player to run the offense when LeBron is off the court. That should be their biggest goal this offseason as the superstar isn’t getting any younger.
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