Lakers' 2021 NBA Free-Agent Big Board, Top Players to Target

The Los Angeles Lakers have two lessons to take away from the 2020-21 NBA season.

First off, injuries are the worst. More specifically, injuries to LeBron James and Anthony Davis are the absolute worst. Once the Lakers lost Davis for good this postseason, they lost their hopes of competing, too.

There's not much L.A. can do with that information, though, beyond hoping the injury bug leaves this roster alone next season.

But the second season-long lesson could be critical in shaping this roster: The supporting cast isn't good enough. The Lakers wound up with redundancies in the frontcourt and not nearly enough shooters and shot-creators.

That needs to change this summer. L.A. doesn't have a big free-agent budget, so it needs to maximize every dollar it spends on internal and external free agents.

1. Own Free-Agent Guards

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Despite having just five players under contract for next season, the Lakers already have $110.3 million on the books, per Basketball Insiders. With so little cash to spend, they'll be doing much of their free-agent shopping in-house.

Their biggest expenditures will almost surely occur in the backcourt, as Dennis Schroder and Alex Caruso are unrestricted free agents and Talen Horton-Tucker is a restricted free agent. All three played significant roles for L.A. this season.

Schroder is an imperfect fit with James given his ball-dominance and inconsistent shooting, but the Lakers might feel they have to keep him. They have no means of replacing Schroder with equal talent, and they might want to have his salary on the books in case they need to line up finances for a major trade down the line.

Caruso's defense and spot-up shooting are perfect complements to L.A.'s stars. Unless he chases more money and minutes elsewhere, he should be a priority for the Lakers. For that matter, so should Horton-Tucker, who is easily their best long-term prospect but also capable of contributing right now. He has handles on offense and length on defense, and if his three-ball ever starts falling, he could be special.

2. Reggie Bullock

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Five teams averaged fewer three-point makes than the Lakers this season. Only one of those teams, the Washington Wizards, made the playoffs.

It's hard to win without proper spacing in the modern NBA. It's almost unfathomable to try doing it while rostering rim attackers like James and Davis. Those players need breathing room, and L.A. didn't give them nearly enough.

But as the Lakers have learned with players like Ben McLemore and Jared Dudley, one-dimensional shooters don't really move the needle. The Lakers need snipers who won't get obliterated on defense.

They need Reggie Bullock, a plucky perimeter defender with a career 39.2 percent splash rate across eight seasons. It might take the full mid-level exception to get him, but even then, it'd be better a way of handling the MLE than last offseason's splurge on scoring big man Montrezl Harrell.

3. Wayne Ellington

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If a top-shelf three-and-D wing is out of the price range, L.A. can go one of two directions.

The first would be grabbing an asterisked three-and-D player. Think someone like Otto Porter Jr., who's awesome in the gig when healthy but hasn't topped 60 games since 2017-18.

The other is splurging on a sharpshooter. Going the one-dimensional route isn't ideal, but there's more security than taking on an injury risk.

Plus, if you're getting a bomber like Wayne Ellington, that one dimension is pretty spectacular. The veteran sharpshooter, who spent the 2014-15 campaign with the Lakers, just averaged 2.5 triples on 42.2 percent shooting. For reference, L.A. didn't have anyone who averaged 2.5 threes, and the only three players who averaged two-plus all shot below 37 percent.