Who's Left on LA Lakers' 2016 NBA Free-Agency Big Board?
The Los Angeles Lakers dropped some major coin during the first days of 2016 NBA free agency. While they still have money to spend, the question turns to a rapidly diminishing inventory of available players.
It all started late Thursday night when L.A. reached an agreement with man mountain Timofey Mozgov on a four-year, $64 million deal, first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.
Bleacher Report's Howard Beck referred to the Lakers' opening salvo as "baffling to say the least." Watch more of Beck's critique below:
That was soon followed by a re-signing agreement with Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson for four years and $50 million, per The Vertical’s Shams Charania. Saturday, L.A. and combo forward Luol Deng reached an agreement for $72 million over four years, also broken by Charania.
Simply put: so much money and such long contracts.
But it wasn’t just the Lakers; the entire league was awash with inflated megadeals over the July 4 weekend, punctuated by an official news release from NBA.com that the 2016-17 salary cap had been set at $94.143 million.
According to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, the Lakers would currently have a little over $25 million left to spend if they were to waive Nick Young and stretch his contract.
The hulking Mozgov didn’t see much floor time during the Cleveland Cavaliers' championship run and was hampered over the course of the season by knee issues. But he’s a huge interior presence who will likely start while not expected to play heavy minutes.
Deng, on the other hand, is a solid defender who still seems to have plenty of gas in the tank.
Additionally, the new frontcourt additions are high-character glue guys who will help guide a young Lakers roster and could also help add some wins in the process.
“The Lakers are paying a premium to establish structure around their young core,” Bill Oram of the Orange County Register observed. “What they hope sprouts from that is a culture that will one day soon attract the elite free agents who have eluded them for the past four summers.”
Also, per Oram, the Lakers tendered qualifying offers to reserves Marcelo Huertas and Tarik Black. Late Sunday night, Black agreed to terms on a two-year, $12.85 million contract, per Charania. That’s a nice bump up from the big man’s $845,059 salary for the past season.
What are the team’s most glaring needs at this point? A floor-spacing shooter and an athletic big who can play small-ball center would be nice. That said, free-agent options are quickly disappearing.
Remaining Wing Options
The addition of Deng along with No. 2 draft pick Brandon Ingram puts the Lakers in good shape at small forward. The depth chart is further bolstered by Anthony Brown, who saw minimal action during his rookie season.
That said, you can never have enough multipositional three-and-D types in today’s NBA.
An interesting option would be the Portland Trail Blazers’ Allen Crabbe, a restricted free agent who made 39.3 percent of his three-pointers while averaging 26 minutes per game off the bench. Crabbe is terrific at guarding teams’ best perimeter players and easily shifts between the 2 and 3.
Late Saturday night, Crabbe tweeted an enigmatic “LA LIFESTYLE” before promptly deleting it. Fortunately, the Silver Screen & Roll site captured and immortalized the message before its vanishing act:
There was also a rumor of a potential offer sheet from the Brooklyn Nets, per ESPN’s Stein, followed by a Nets refutation, according to USA Today's Sam Amick.
This prompted Silver Screen & Roll’s Harrison Faigen to renew hopes for Lakers fans:
Maurice Harkless is a rangy, young small forward, also with Portland. And as Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times observed, Harkless is “in the mix” for the Lakers. The restricted free agent is lacking when it comes to a reliable outside shot, however.
Brandon Rush could be an alternative solution. The younger brother of former Laker, Kareem, Rush shot a blistering 41.4 percent from beyond the arc and started 25 games for the Warriors while filling in for Barnes this season. At 30, Rush is an unrestricted free agent who revived his career after two ACL injuries.
Wild Cards
The Lakers could also use some spread help in the frontcourt with their current big men not known for long-range proclivity.
Enter Marreese “Mo Buckets” Speights—a 6’10” backup center who will never be associated with judicious decisions when the ball’s in his hands. But new Lakers coach Luke Walton would know how to get the most from the energetic jump-shooter from their time together with the Warriors.
Another interesting wild card edging is Nick Minnerath. The pride and joy of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, earned an invite to Lakers training camp three years ago. But instead of accepting the opportunity, the high-flying forward took a detour overseas.
According to Bleacher Report’s David Pick, who covers the international beat, the Lakers are again interested in the undrafted journeyman:
Minnerath played in Spain and France, and continued his hoops journey with the D-League’s Canton Charge this past season, averaging 18.5 points and 6.9 rebounds. He can run the open floor and dunk with authority, and he has a scrappy intensity. He also made 40.2 percent of his three-pointers.
A guy such as Minnerath may not be the most obvious candidate left on the big board, but he’s a minimum-cost gamble who wouldn’t put a dent in the team’s remaining cap space.
Also worth considering are members of the Lakers summer-league squad such as Jabari Brown and undrafted forward Zach Auguste, who averaged a double-double at Notre Dame this season.
NBA and D-League stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference unless otherwise noted.
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