Lakers Players with Most at Stake During 2023-24 NBA Season

Any team with LeBron James on the roster will always live under the NBA's spotlight and face championship-or-bust expectations.

That's particularly true for the 2023-24 Los Angeles Lakers, considering they just followed a Western Conference finals run with a productive offseason.

But that's not all that's on the line in the Hollywood hoops scene. Far from it. As the following three players can attest, they're facing massive stakes that go beyond the typical barometer for James' teammates.

Cam Reddish

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PORTLAND, OR - MARCH 14: Cam Reddish #5 of the Portland Trail Blazers goes to the basket during the game on March 14, 2023 at the Moda Center Arena in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2023 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)

When the Lakers added Reddish over the offseason, there may have been some optimism about helping the one-time top-10 pick (No. 10 in 2019) get his career on track.

Look at the situation without purple-and-gold-tinted glasses, though, and L.A. is taking on a project thee teams have abandoned already. Reddish might physically look the part of a three-and-D wing, but this league will only wait so long for a light bulb to click.

There aren't many 24-year-olds with four seasons under their belt who are still afforded the project-prospect status. You can't still be much of a mystery with 4,303 career minutes of floor time and film. Reddish, whose teams have historically fared 5.8 points worse per 100 possessions with him than without, per Basketball-Reference, has given very little indication that his a-ha! moment is coming.

His tools and shooting mechanics make you want to believe he can figure things out yet and become, if nothing else, a reliable contributor on both ends. The Lakers aren't out much by seeing if this could happen, but he could be out a ton if he can't capitalize on this situation. If inconsistencies and inefficiencies plague him as they have in the past, there is a non-zero chance he slips off the NBA radar.

D'Angelo Russell

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LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 12: D'Angelo Russell #1 of the Los Angeles Lakers handles the ball during Game 6 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals 2023 NBA Playoffs on May 12, 2023 at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2023 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

Russell is a 27-year-old one-time All-Star who has continued to post near-star numbers since earning that honor back in 2018-19.

But even if the box scores may not clearly show it, his stock is in rough shape.

The Golden State Warriors moved on from him less than a season after signing him. The Minnesota Timberwolves could have kept him around and re-signed him this ofseason, but they dealt him at the deadline for an aging Mike Conley, a wild card in Nickeil Alexander-Walker and a couple of second-round picks.

Even the Lakers didn't fully commit to Russell, despite giving him a two-year, $36 million deal, as they got him to waive his implied no-trade clause. And remember, this came after the club greatly minimized his role in the postseason, trimming his floor to just 23.5 minutes in the conference finals and bumping him out of the starting lineup in its elimination-game loss.

The league has seemingly decided his play style isn't super conducive to winning, and that might be right. His defensive impact is inconsistent at best, and his offense isn't always as efficient as it needs to be to justify the usage rate he requires.

Christian Wood

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LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 12: Christian Wood #35 of the Dallas Mavericks drives to the basket during the game against the Los Angeles Lakers on January 12, 2023 at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2023 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

Last season, in his age-27 campaign, Wood tallied 16.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in only 25.9 minutes per night. The 6'10" combo big also averaged 1.6 threes on 37.6 percent shooting.

With those numbers accumulated in a contract campaign, you might assume he was highly sought after in free agency. He wasn't. He didn't ink a deal until September, and the one he wound up signing was only a two-year agreement worth $5.7 million, per Spotrac. By joining the Lakers, he ensured his eighth NBA season would be spent with his eighth different franchise.

Why don't teams stick with Wood for long? Well, he is an inconsistent defender who seems to overrate his place on the hoops hierarchy. ESPN's Tim MacMahon said on The Lowe Post podcast that the 2022-23 Dallas Mavericks had asked Wood "to be a bench scorer" but he "and really more so, the people he listens to, considered that to be some great insult."

Wood needs some reputation repair. Moreover, he has to prove his stats can matter in a winning contest. If he does that under the Hollywood spotlight, he might put his career—and future earnings—on an entirely different trajectory. If he doesn't, the league might decide—as it seemingly nearly did this offseason—that he'll never buy-in to a team concept and isn't worth filling up a roster space.