Report Card Grades for Los Angeles Lakers' 2015 Offseason So Far

As the dust settles in free agency, it's time to take stock of the moves the Los Angeles Lakers made this offseason to improve a roster that bottomed out in 2015.

The Lakers missed out on landing a maximum-salaried superstar—they get an "F" for their presentation skills—but waited out the market to set up some secondary deals that could help the team next year.

Let's hand out grades for the moves L.A. has made so far this summer, beginning with the NBA draft.

2015 NBA Draft

After getting some help from the lottery gods and securing the No. 2 overall pick, the Lakers surprised most draftniks by selecting guard D'Angelo Russell over center Jahlil Okafor.

It was a bold move by the Lakers, as they eschewed the safer and more traditional pick for a shot at greater glory with Russell.

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Neil Paine and Zach Bradshaw put together a statistical model over at FiveThirtyEight.com that broke down the likelihood of players becoming stars, starters, role players or busts.

Their chart shows that Russell has the best shot at any player in the draft to become a star—but he's also the most likely guy in the top 25 to flame out.

The Lakers are betting big on Russell, taking into account the direction that NBA basketball is heading. The Ohio State product seems like the perfect fit for the modern game. He can handle and pass like a point guard, score with the best wings and has the length to switch assignments on the fly and guard multiple positions.

Choosing Russell over Okafor was also a nod to the plethora of big men available in free agency over the summer. In hindsight we know that factor was irrelevant, but L.A. set itself up for the best chance at building a competitive roster immediately. I'll tip my hat to that thought process, even if the outcome didn't quite pan out.

In the second round, the Lakers made Stanford's Anthony Brown the 34th pick in the draft. He's an excellent outside shooter—a trait that L.A. sorely needs—with the size and length to become a solid wing defender as well. We saw this offseason how much three-and-D wings are worth. If Brown can develop into that sort of a player, it will be a bargain for the Lakers.

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My only quibble with the draft is what L.A. did at No. 27, where they selected Larry Nance Jr. The Lakers' goal should be to add young talent to the roster, and there were players still on the board with more talent and upside than Nance.

In particular, if the move is to draft a power forward, why not go with Montrezl Harrell? Harrell slipped all the way to the second round, despite having mid-first-round talent.

An even bigger upside play would have been UCLA's Kevon Looney, who was a highly rated talent before injury concerns had him fall to the 30th pick. Late in the first round, you can take a chance on a project player who has the upside to be something special. The Nance pick is instantly forgettable.

Grade: B+

Trading for Roy Hibbert

It's incredible how just 18 months ago Hibbert was a near-lock for Defensive Player of the Year and was drawing rave reviews from people around the league for his game-changing defensive prowess. 

As a matter of fact, Grantland's Zach Lowe recalls GMs telling him at the time that "Roy Hibbert’s rim protection alone made him worth $25 million—much more than even his maximum salary."

Now we've come to the point that Hibbert is mocked roundly and seen as something of a basketball fossil—a lumbering behemoth whose species is slowly but surely marching toward extinction. The Indiana Pacers couldn't wait to rid themselves of him and even not-so-subtly encouraged their franchise center to opt out of his deal.

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Admittedly, the concerns are legitimate. The league is definitely trending toward the pace-and-space ideal, and Hibbert is lacking in both of those departments.

Plus, his offensive game isn't good enough to punish small-ball opponents. It's not that he's a total non-entity on offense. He can score a bit in the post and knows how to pass, but it's not on a high enough level to provide a significant matchup advantage. Opposing teams would be just fine with L.A. tossing to Hibbert on the block play after play.

We just witnessed an NBA Finals where Andrew Bogut—essentially the Hibbert of the West—was benched by the Golden State Warriors on their way to a championship. Guys like them may be only situational players in the league moving forward, but don't let that diminish what they're good at.

Hibbert is still a big factor on defense. Remember, this is the dude who invented verticality! The one guy who could make layups difficult for LeBron James. He can absolutely be a top-notch rim protector for the Lakers.

Although his D did slip a bit last season, Hibbert was fourth in the entire league in opponent's field-goal percentage at the rim on shots he contested, per NBA.com. No Lakers ranked higher than 87th on that list.

The Lakers have allowed opponents to enjoy regular layup parades the past couple of years. They've been one of the worst units in the league in terms of defending the precious real estate near the hoops—in terms of both volume and efficiency.

Hibbert can slow that down on his own. The Lakers will be a much better defensive squad with big boy Roy on the floor.

And in the regular season, matchups aren't as big a deal as in the postseason. In the slog of an NBA campaign, coaches don't have time to craft minutely specific game plans. They pretty much stick to their normal rotations, meaning Hibbert has a better shot at staying on the floor and being relevant.

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He's not a 35-minute-a-game guy, but he's not a purely situational player like he might be in the playoffs—something the Lakers need not concern themselves with.

And the best part is that his $17.8 million comes off the books after only one year, freeing all that cap space right back up.

So the Lakers get an upgrade at center, a guy who can keep them from being a joke defensively, and get to dive back into the market next summer with a clean cap sheet, all without giving up anything of consequence. 

That's about as good a contingency plan as you can get in this league.

Grade: A

Signing Lou Williams

It's surprising how little buzz there was surrounding the reigning Sixth Man of the Year in free agency.

Williams' three-year, $21 million deal, per ESPN.com, looks like a bargain when compared to some of the other contracts that have been signed this offseason.

And in a vacuum, it is a bargain. Williams was a crucial part of a playoff team last season, often serving as the Toronto Raptors' primary offensive weapon as DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry dealt with various maladies.

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Sweet Lou is one of the best in the league at creating his own shot on the perimeter. Though he's not a great three-point marksman (34 percent in 2014 and for his career), he's not afraid to let it fly and makes them often enough to make the defense feel threatened.

Unfortunately, his forays to the rim have steadily declined throughout his career, but he does have a killer pull-up game that is tough to stop when on. And his penchant for drawing fouls on his jumper is Jamal Crawford-esque—keeping his overall scoring efficiency at a respectable level.

The drawback here is the fit. Williams' skills overlap with several other players on the roster.

Just at his position in the backcourt, the Lakers have Russell and Clarkson, two dynamic playmakers who are better at creating for their teammates than Williams is.

Those guys' minutes can be staggered, though, and Williams can lead bench units by himself. The bigger concern is how he will mesh with another volume scorer off the pine—Nick Young.

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Both men are fond of dancing on the perimeter before launching pull-up jumpers of varying degrees of difficulty. You can survive with one ball-stopper on the floor, but having two (or even three if they happen to share the floor with Kobe Bryant) mucks up the team's natural flow too much.

Watching Williams and Young take turns attempting low-percentage looks on offense is scary, but it remains a distinct possibility. Dealing Young away would alleviate that worry and make this acquisition look even better.

The contract is agreeable in terms of length and monetary value, and Williams is certainly a very useful player, but the less-than-ideal fit downgrades the deal a bit.

Grade: B

Signing Brandon Bass

The exact contract details on Bass are still pending, according Yahoo Sports' Marc J. Spears and Adrian Wojnarowski, as the Lakers try to fit all their other roster moves under the cap before doling out Bass' portion of the leftovers to him.

Bass' signing is the definition of "meh." He's a perfectly fine, serviceable, veteran big man who can be in the rotation for just about any team in the league. The Lakers have a need for guys like that to fill out the roster, so inking him to (what should be) a modest contract is...perfectly fine.

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Bass is solid all around. He's undersized but tough. He's not a great rebounder, but he bangs the boards. He has a pretty consistent mid-range game that is a functional pick-and-pop option.

There's no upside to this acquisition, but there's no risk either. After 10 years in the league, you know what you're getting out of the 30-year-old forward. 

Competent basketball players are a welcome addition to the club, and Bass fits that profile. As long as he's not taking minutes away from Julius Randle—no matter how many mistakes Randle makes, you have to play him through them to accelerate his development—Bass' arrival is solid, if unspectacular.

Grade: B-