Lakers' Value Signing of Lou Williams Won't Mask Their Flaws on the Court

The Los Angeles Lakers weren't able to sign the big-name free agents at the top of their shopping list. Now, it's time for the recovery.

It appears part of the rehabilitation will be former Toronto Raptors guard and reigning Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:

Williams averaged 15.5 points per game on 40-34-86 shooting during a revival season in Toronto, his only year as a Raptor. And in today's economic environment, $7 million a season seems like a steal for a guy coming off a Sixth Man of the Year win in a vacuum. Heck, Arron Afflalo just got $8 million a year after the basketball world filed its official disappointment in his 2014-15 season.

In a vacuum: That phrase should stand out.

In reality, Williams isn't the best basketball fit in Los Angeles, even if he is hardly overpaid. But let's get to the good first.

Ron Turenne/Getty Images

Unless the man they call "Sweet Lou" has one of his worst campaigns in a long time, L.A. should be able to flip him midseason or even next year, especially if similar players, like J.R. Smith—who's still a free agent—end up getting contracts for a higher average annual value than Williams did with the Lakers. 

If L.A. ends up trading him for spare parts or even picks that are so protected they're carrying firearms, that's a smart way to rebuild a roster currently under renovation. You can equate the philosophy to the one the Suns used when general manager Ryan McDonough signed Isaiah Thomas to a four-year, $27 million deal last offseason, even though his team already had two starting-caliber point guards.

Of course, that experiment didn't work, not because of basketball, but because of ego and discordant styles—Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe and Thomas understandably couldn't find a way to make it work. 

In the Lakers' instance, there's a similar theme.

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No, Williams isn't a third floor general, but he is a conscienceless bench gunner who wants his points like Pacman wants substance-less, digital dots. And don't the Lakers already have one of those guys?

Oh right. Nick Young still exists.

Of course, you're not going to let the presence of Swaggy P dictate your personnel moves, but at the same time, it's almost a universal basketball rule that you don't want multiple guys who play that style coming off your bench. It doesn't work. And inside a guard rotation which also includes the second-year Jordan Clarkson and rookie D'Angelo Russell, L.A. could benefit more from bringing in a veteran to groom the young guys, not to mention how Williams' shoot-first mentality could bring down an offensive unit when you put him at the 1-guard.

Apparently, the Lakers have some understanding of that. There's more from Woj:

It's no guarantee L.A. would be able to easily unload Young, who has three years and $16.3 million remaining on his contract. If we're talking about a strict salary dump, then the team will have to include a draft pick to sweeten the deal. But if the price is too steep, there has to be a chance Young remains on the roster through the start of the season.

If they can't deal him, the inexperienced ones are not going to learn a whole lot from watching Williams or Young do their thing. Or at least, the Lakers better hope their future isn't based on mimicking those guys' actions.

Unless it's this action. Then it's totally worth it:

Williams compounds existing issues on the roster, too, namely spacing and defense.

Who's going to hit nylon on a team whose wings are starved for three-point shooting?

Clarkson has never been accurate from long range dating back to his days at the University of Missouri. Williams is a slightly below-average three-point shooter who's capable of getting hot, at best. Bryant, meanwhile, has sneakily been one of the NBA's worst high-volume three-point shooters over the past six years, during which he's made worse than 32 percent of his shots from behind the arc. Is a sprinkle of Jabari Brown here and there enough to solve those issues?

The brilliant John Schuhmann of NBA.com brings up another offensive concern the Lakers could face with the addition of Williams:

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According to SportVU, the Lakers took 283 more contested jumpers than any other team last season, even with Bryant playing only 35 games. Add more Bryant plus Williams and L.A. could lap the field in that category. Among 166 players who attempted at least 300 jumpers, Bryant ranked first (69 percent), Young ranked second (68 percent) and Williams ranked 20th (46 percent) in regard to what percentage of their jumpers were contested. And Clarkson ranked 30th at 43 percent.

"

Guys are happy to chuck before doing anything else. It makes you wonder, who is going to get Julius Randle the ball? And it certainly makes the reportedly soon-to-be-acquired Laker Roy Hibbert think, "Oh my gosh! No one is ever going to pass to me!"

At least Hibbert, one of the NBA's premier rim-protectors, will be defending on the other end, though. You can't exactly say that for the rest of the roster, and Williams hardly helps.

Let's assume the Lakers move into 2015-16 with a 10-man rotation of Russell, Clarkson, Bryant, Randle, Hibbert, Williams, Brown, Young, the recently signed Brandon Bass and Tarik Black. Aside from Young, who defends the right to swag every day, will any other non-Hibbertian player lend positive contributions to the D?

The Lakers allowed the second-most points per possession this past season. It's hard to imagine that changing if they hold on to the above roster.

If this is a sign that the Lakers are accepting they won't be good this year, and they're merely taking advantage of the chance to bring in a tradable contract, then good for them. And I mean that with the least amount of sarcasm possible. That's a calculated, plodding move we don't usually see from a big-market organization which prides itself on attracting the sexiest names.

But if we're talking about this move as a pure basketball fit, the Lakers could've found a more suitable filler than Williams, who is a bit redundant and doesn't help eliminate many of the flaws already on the roster.

Follow Fred Katz on Twitter at @FredKatz.

All statistics are current as of July 5 and are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com unless noted otherwise.