Lakers News: Team Would Be Wise to Keep Point Guard Duo for Next Season

This is where the 2013-14 Los Angeles Lakers stand at the moment. A 40-year-old Steve Nash and Kendall Marshall present valuable chips for next season.

Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times reported that the team is leaning toward bringing both point guards back for next season:

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For financial reasons, the Lakers currently plan to keep him (Nash) next season, The Times has learned, eating the remainder of his contract ($9.7 million) in one swoop instead of waiving him and spreading the money out over three years.

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They also plan to keep Marshall, the 13th selection in the 2012 draft, whom they signed as a free agent a little more than three months ago.

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With Nash, the motivation is almost strictly financial. Bresnahan pointed out that keeping Nash for next year will mean paying out the rest of his deal next season, rather than letting it eat into the 2015-16 and 2016-17 payroll, when the Lakers may be poised to sign one or two huge free agents in the offseason.

As foolhardy as it may seem to some, Los Angeles' best plan of attack going forward is drafting a difference-maker this offseason and hoping somebody—or somebodies like Kevin Love, Kevin Durant and/or Russell Westbrook—arrives in a year or two.

Mark J. Terrill

Los Angeles needs every million it can when trying to upgrade the roster in the years to come. It doesn't want to get stuck where it is at the moment—with zero financial flexibility and a team that can't compete.

Retaining Nash also opens up the possibility, albeit a very small one, that some team wants to pick up his expiring contract. The returns would be minimal, but maybe the Lakers could parlay that trade into adding another role player.

At this point, that's about all the possible value Nash provides. There's little sense in continuing to start a 40-year-old injury-prone point guard, especially when you have somebody like Marshall.

The 22-year-old has been one of the few silver linings this season for the Lakers. Although his numbers aren't gaudy (8.1 points and 8.8 assists a game), he's shooting 41.7 percent from deep and has provided a lot of leadership at the point.

Marshall has convinced Bleacher Report's Ethan Norof of his long-term utility:

Head coach Mike D'Antoni has also been pleased by what Marshall has done this season but thinks the guard could benefit from slowing down the pace a bit, per Bresnahan:

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Marshall needed to develop a “grittiness” like slow but determined veteran point guard Andre Miller, D'Antoni said.

“He gives up a lot of foot speed, but you've got to [overcome] it by angles and you've got to do it by anticipating,” D'Antoni said of Marshall. “What he does, he does really well. He just can't have a day where you're not thinking real hard, because you're not going to make it up with your physical speed.”

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Is Marshall going to transform into Chris Paul? Almost certainly not, but he could still be a valuable member of the Lakers as either starter or role player over the next few years. If Norris Cole can play almost 20 minutes a night for the title-winning Miami Heat, then Marshall has a place on a contender in this league.

Are you not convinced by the on-court benefits? Then consider the off-court benefits.

What's perhaps even better about Marshall than his development this year is that he's owed a mere pittance, per ShamSports.com, over the next couple of seasons. In 2014-15, he's paid $915,243, and the year after that, he's got a qualifying offer worth $1,181,348.

Even if Marshall isn't the permanent starting point guard, that's still a pretty good deal for a backup PG in today's NBA.

The Lakers are clearly in rebuilding mode at the moment. Whether or not Nash and Marshall play into their long-term plans isn't a major issue at the moment. The benefits of keeping them on in the short term far outweighs the consequences.