Why Kirk Hinrich May Be the Best Free Agent the LA Lakers' Money Can Buy

The Los Angeles Lakers' $91 million payroll was the NBA's highest last season, but due to the new developments in the league's labor saga, the Lakers' days of freely spending big money to acquire elite talent may be coming to an end.

The players' decision to disband their union cast an even darker cloud over the diminishing hopes for a season, and although no one can be certain of what lies ahead in the coming weeks, one thing is obviously clear.

Whenever the games do begin, the players will likely be forced to accept a lesser deal than the final one they rejected, and the deal might just include a hard, no frills salary cap.

In a hard-cap scenario, current deals would probably be grandfathered in, but it would throw a damper on teams hoping to cash in on the free-agency bonanza of 2012.

Orlando center Dwight Howard and point guards Chris Paul and Deron Williams are the cream of next year's free agency crop, and while Howard may be Lakers fans' dream choice, Paul and Williams meet a specific need.

It's no secret that the Lakers are in dire need of a new lead guard, and the team's decision to use its first two picks of the 2011 NBA draft on backcourt players is a good start.

But if the Lakers hope to immediately contend for a title in new coach Mike Brown's offensive system, it will not be with Darius Morris or Andrew Goudelock as a starter, so it is widely assumed that the team will make acquiring a decent point guard a top priority.

Would the Lakers target high-profile free agents like Paul and Williams? I'm not sure if owner Jerry Buss would spend the type of money Paul and Williams would command considering they are point guards, but under the NBA's old salary system you couldn't rule it out.

Buss has never minded spending money to improve his team, and the deal the players rejected did raise the luxury tax, but I'm doubtful the dollar amount would scare Buss.

However, a hard salary cap theoretically takes that option off the table and makes it almost impossible to sign players like Williams, Paul and especially Howard.

The Lakers may have to adjust their horizons a little when or if the hard-line owners get their way, but Atlanta Hawks point guard Kirk Hinrich wouldn't be a bad consolation prize.

Hinrich will also be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2012, and while he doesn't come with the same hype and fanfare as Williams or Paul, he still upgrades the Lakers at the point guard position.

Hinrich has great size at 6'4", he excels in the transition game and he would give the Lakers a consistent perimeter threat beyond the three-point line.

An added bonus for Hinrich is his reputation as a defensive player, and while he is by no means a shut-down defender, he is fundamentally sound, quick and plays the passing lanes well.

Hinrich would certainly improve a defensive unit that was already one of the NBA's best, and paired with Kobe Bryant the Lakers would also have one of the league's biggest backcourts.

More importantly, Hinrich's $8 million salary in 2011 is exactly half of what Paul and Williams make, which would likely make him affordable to the Lakers under any new salary cap structure.

Hinrich does not have the star quality of Paul or Williams, but the Lakers have enough stars with Bryant, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom.

What the Lakers need is a competent point guard with a decent outside shot and the ability to serve as a defensive deterrent to some of the elite point guards in the West.

By most measures Hinrich's game fits that job description, and his price tag would still allow the Lakers to improve their roster under a tighter future salary cap.