Josh Okogie Contract Would Solve Lakers' Biggest Need amid NBA Free Agency Rumors

It seems like the dust is settling on the 2025 NBA offseason for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Probably.

Sure, a LeBron James split would rock the entire basketball landscape, but it doesn't sound like that's coming. And, yes, maybe L.A. will have to sweat out extension talks with Luka Dončić, but the latest update on that front sounded promising.

Assuming no surprises with those storylines, the Lakers have done just about all of the roster restructuring they'll do during this summer. They still have one item on the to-do list, though. As The Athletic's Dan Woike and Joe Vardon noted, "improving the team's point of attack defense is a priority."

If L.A. wants a disruptive defender, it'll struggle to find a better option than the recently waived Josh Okogie.

The 6'4", 213-pounder is on-ball menace against almost every type of guard and smaller wings. He's strong, active and relentlessly competitive. He's the kind of player who can be left on an island against a perimeter star, and his team can feel comfortable about his ability to hold his own in that matchup.

This past season, he bounced in and out of the rotation and navigated around a midseason trade from the Phoenix Suns and Charlotte Hornets. Despite that instability, he still finished in the 94th percentile of defensive estimated plus/minus, per Dunks & Threes.

He's not just a stingy stopper, he's also a legitimate defensive playmaker.

Among players who made 20-plus appearances, Okogie trailed only Dyson Daniels, Alex Caruso and Paul Reed in steals per 100 possessions (3.7, per NBA.com). His 4.8 deflections per 36 minutes were ninth-most among players who logged 500-plus minutes.

This elite level of disruption was nothing new, by the way. He's one of only four players overall—and one of two perimeter players—to have a two-plus steal percentage and a two-plus block percentage in each of the past five seasons, per StatHead Basketball.

As defenders go, Okogie is at or near the top of his craft. And at 26 years old, he's either the best he'll ever be or still climbing toward his peak.

The obvious question, then, is whether he can add anything offensively. After all, the Lakers have seen firsthand the limitations of having a defense-only contributor like Jarred Vanderbilt (who, by the way, would still have some value if he could just stay healthy).

The answer is...not a lot, frankly, but also not nothing.

Okogie's motor shines in transition and on the offensive glass. He also generally does a good job of making smart moves into open space. Having said that, the open space typically exists for a reason—he's never been much of a shooting threat from any level. His career 40.6 field-goal percentage and 29.9 three-point percentage are both obvious worries.

He did, however, just post career-highs of 44.3 percent field-goal shooting, 34.8 percent three-point shooting and 56.7 percent true shooting. So, it's possible to hold out hope of him being at least a passable offensive player, particularly when he's alongside gravitational forces like James, Dončić and Austin Reaves.

And if Okogie is serviceable on offense, then he'd be ultra-valuable to the Lakers. They need the thing he does best, and they're also equipped to potentially help him with his biggest weaknesses. This feels like a win-win fit.