Lakers Sleeper Contracts to Pursue in NBA Free Agency
The Los Angeles Lakers will need to carefully monitor their spending during the 2023 NBA offseason.
While they can (and might) make a big splash, they'll only have so much flexibility to fill out the roster when they already have major-money commitments made to LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
So, regardless whether they chase a third star or prioritize continuity, they'll need to find some bargain ballers to handle the support roles.
The following three players should be firmly on the radar for their ability to outperform their projected pay rate.
Will Barton
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One of the simplest ways of finding value in free agency is unearthing a player whose stock is low but has a realistic chance of bouncing back.
Will Barton fits that description like a compression sleeve.
For whatever reason, last summer's trade from the Denver Nuggets to the Washington Wizards totally torpedoed his production. A post-deadline buyout and relocation to the Toronto Raptors did nothing to salvage his stat sheet. By year's end, the 32-year-old was down to just 6.8 points per night and 37.9 percent field-goal shooting.
That's why his free-agency stock is low. Look back just a single season, though, and you'll find him thrilling like normal. In 2021-22, he went for 14.7 points per outing and shot 43.8 percent from the field.
If the Lakers get that version of Barton for a bottom-dollar price, they could bulk up their bench with extra creation, shooting and a pinch of playmaking.
Jeff Green
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At a certain point, Jeff Green will start showing his age. With his 37th birthday arriving in August, it's possible that time is now.
That potential decline is what could scare off suitors and perhaps force the veteran swingman to accept minimum money. If that's how things shake out, the Lakers should be all over him.
He remains a versatile scorer who holds up reasonably well on defense. His outside shot severely slipped the past two seasons (30.5 percent), but he knocked in 103 triples at a 41.2 percent clip in 2020-21, so it's not like he's automatically a lost cause from long range.
If he looks outside of Denver, he'll want to latch on with someone in the championship race. Linking back up with LeBron, who teamed with Green on the 2017-18 Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers, might be too intriguing of an option to pass up.
Gabe Vincent
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It's possible Gabe Vincent's contributions to the Miami Heat's run to the Finals have eliminated all chances of anyone getting him for cheap.
Then again, if teams put more stock in his career path to this point than they do a single postseason run, they may not blow up his bank account. After all, the 26-year-old (27 on June 14) is four seasons into his career with per-game averages of 7.7 points (on 39.9 percent shooting) and 2.3 assists (against 1.2 turnovers).
Vincent is more of a scoring guard than a traditional point, which could be a problem for some teams given his lack of size (6'3", 195 lbs). For the Lakers, though, his skill set could be perfect.
They only need so much playmaking from their point guard spot when LeBron initiates so many offensive possessions. They'll sacrifice some creation if needed, so long as they're getting reliable shooting and plucky defense from the position. If Vincent maintains anything close to the level he's displayed this postseason, he checks those boxes with ease.
Cost is the big variable here, as Vincent has clearly earned some coin in these playoffs. But if L.A. limits its external spending, it could still have enough cap space to relatively splurge on him.
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