Lakers Rumors: Signing Gilbert Arenas Wouldn't Rescue LA's Woeful Bench

The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly interested in Gilbert Arenas, but the artist formerly known as Agent Zero won't fix L.A.'s bench woes.

With Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown leaving town, everyone knew the Lakers' depth would suffer. However, I don't think anyone expected it to be this bad.

At the risk of sounding melodramatic, the Lakers might have the worst bench in NBA history. They're getting little to no production from their second unit, with Metta World Peace, Darius Morris, Josh McRoberts, Troy Murphy and Andrew Goudelock combining for a measly 18.4 points per game.

The Lakers have also gotten nothing from Jason Kapono, who was supposed to provide them with a deep threat that could stretch the defense. On the season, Kapono is hitting just 27.8 percent of his threes, barely better than the Lakers team average of 27.2, which is dead last in the NBA.

Given how terrible their bench has been, the Lakers have nothing to lose by bringing in Arenas. Their lack of depth is killing them in the compacted schedule, as they've sputtered to a 1-7 start on the road. Arenas is also capable of creating a shot for himself or a teammate, which is more than you can say about any Laker guard not named Kobe Bryant.

In those regards, signing Arenas makes sense. However, Lakers' fans should keep their expectations low.

Arenas is just a shell of the shell of his former self. He was awful in Orlando last season, putting up career lows in points (8), assists (3.2), and shooting percentage (34.4). He can still have an occasional outburst, but after multiple knee surgeries, he doesn't have the speed or athleticism to drop 30 points every night like the days of old.

Despite his struggles, the Lakers should sign Arenas immediately because, sadly, he's better than what they got right now.

However, don't expect him to make much of a positive impact.