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The Lakers Still Have Depth Issues to Resolve in Free Agency

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I don’t know the right word to describe the Lakers’ off-season, really. Maybe a single word doesn’t do it justice. There’s been lots of noise — an incredible number of innuendo, rumors, and outright leaks — but not a ton of action. However, when things have happened, they’ve been fairly big.

The D’Angelo Russell trade came somewhat out of left field even though there were rumors in the days prior saying the Lakers were open to dealing him. The Kentavious Caldwell-Pope signing was on everyone’s radar the minute the Pistons pulled his qualifying offer, but when the news ultimately broke it was still surprising. These moves, along with the drafting of Lonzo Ball, have remade the roster and have fans excited.

Realistically, though, the work for the front office is not done. Here is their current depth chart (*note, some of these guys are swing/combo players — more on that later):

PG: Lonzo Ball, Jordan Clarkson
SG: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Corey Brewer, Josh Hart
SF: Brandon Ingram
PF: Julius Randle, Larry Nance Jr., Luol Deng, Kyle Kuzma
C: Brook Lopez, Ivica Zubac, Thomas Bryant

That’s 13 players. The Lakers also have Alex Caruso signed to a 2-way contract with the South Bay Lakers (SBL), so, in theory, he could find some minutes on the big team throughout the year at PG. But, leaving him out of the mix for now, the Lakers clearly have some roster imbalance right now.

And this exists even if you start to move some players around.

Say, for example, you don’t think Clarkson is a PG and you slot him at SG instead. To compensate, say you move Corey Brewer to a backup at SF to both give Ingram a backup and to keep a better balance at SG where you don’t necessarily need 4 guys. Now, you can also slide Deng to SF to make sure you don’t have 4 guys at PF and to give you a bit more depth at SF behind Ingram. When all that shuffling is done, you don’t have a backup PG and you still have the issue of having Brewer and Deng as the primary wings behind Ingram.

Even without adding additional players, some of these things can be mitigated by tweaking the rotations and lineups. If you don’t have a legit backup point guard who is a “true” PG, you just play Clarkson there or pass off some ball-handling duties to Brandon Ingram or Julius Randle. If you then need some minutes at SG, play Hart. If you really don’t want to play Deng or Brewer for extended minutes, platoon them and give Kuzma some run at SF as well. These aren’t ideal solutions, but you make the best with what you have then go out there and compete. Coaches love the “next guy up” speech and while they don’t want to make that a lifestyle, coaches are wired to make things work as best they can.

However, what’s clear is that the Lakers actually could use a couple of more guys on this roster. They need another guy who can play some PG and, really, another wing too.

The front office knows all about the PG need. They’ve met with Derrick Rose* and Ian Clark** already. Tyler Ennis, I imagine, remains a possibility. There’s been less reporting on the team looking at wings, but I think they should be. As it stands now, the team will likely play with a lot of 3 “guard” lineups, with KCP or Clarkson moonlighting at SF for stretches when Ingram is on the bench. Kuzma could see some time there too, but his NBA effectiveness is speculation at this point (even if it’s hard not to feel good about him after his summer league play).

In terms of names on the wing the team could consider: Tony Allen, Monta Ellis, Shabazz Muhammad, Brandon Rush, KJ McDaniels, and Mike Dunleavy are all potential fits in terms of their respective games, skill sets, or where they are in their careers. I won’t make the case for any specific player, but I think they’d need to be acutely aware that they may not play much (if at all), but could also see a steady role if things break right for them. This could be anything from Deng/Brewer being unplayable on the wing to, knock on wood, an injury to a key rotation player in front of them. The Lakers are so shallow, this must be a consideration from both the FO’s perspective and potential FA’s.

As we inch towards August, I do expect these things to get resolved soon. The market still has a fair amount of players out there, including several RFA’s who are likely getting upset about there being a lack of movement towards a long term deal (I’m looking at you, Nerlens Noel). But, really, the Lakers should be deciding on at least one player and, maybe two in next week or two in order to fill out the roster. For now, though, we wait. Which, for this off-season, is par for the course.

*Derrick Rose looks like he’ll be a Cavalier soon, if not already by the time you read this. I don’t have any analysis on his fit on the Lakers. If I have to write that piece, I will. 

**Ian Clark isn’t really a point guard — at least on offense. He doesn’t really initiate the offense and is not a primary ball handler. In terms of what he does well on offense, he’s definitely more of a SG. He would be PG defensively, though. Or, at least, that’s where the coaches would likely put him considering the size disadvantage he’d be operating under by guarding pure SG’s or, gasp, SF’s. Not to say he’d defend PG’s well either, but, well…yeah. Anyways, I remain intrigued by Clark as a rotation player, especially at the price the Lakers would be getting him for should he end up being signed. At a higher salary, I’d be less inclined to sign him.


Reader Interactions

Comments

    • Busboys4me says

      I would have given Matt a two way contract before Curuso. Curuso was struggling with his handle in Summer League. Matt shot lights out. HE deserved an invite to training camp.

      • A Horse With No Name says

        Bus: Spot on re Caurso’s handle. I was wondering if anyone else saw that. Didn’t look ready to handle ball pressure.

      • Chris okobah says

        I hope this Lakers front office ate not making a big mistake by letting Mart ho , he is the calliber of player that should be invited to camp , I bet you he will shoot the light out of NBA tesms

      • Harold says

        Matt Thomas can just shoot. He can’t defend and was a turnover machine on offense when he tried to do anything other than shoot. Overall Caruso is the better player because he does a little bit of everything: passing, defending, rebounding.
        Also, the Lakers probably invited Matt Thomas. He just happened to get a better offer. A guaranteed contract + more money. Inviting him is not the same as signing him. If he didn’t show any potential beyond his shooting, the Lakers may not have given him a contract. Or at best a two-way contract, which is still less money than what he’d make with the Spanish team. At the end of the day, Matt picked more money and job security.

  2. Joseph says

    As far as Corey Brewer goes, he spent last season as the Lakers backup SF. He’s considered a SF/SG, capable of playing both positions, but at 6’9″ the guy is a SF, lets face it. It’s being 190lbs that allows him to be capable of playing SG. But for all intents and purposes, the guy is a SF.

    PG: Lonzo Ball, Jordan Clarkson
    SG: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Josh Hart
    SF: Brandon Ingram, Corey Brewer
    PF: Julius Randle, Larry Nance Jr., Luol Deng, Kyle Kuzma
    C: Brook Lopez, Ivica Zubac, Thomas Bryant

    If Zubac doesn’t show improvement though in training camp, I fully expect we might see Nance become the backup C with Deng moving into the backup PF role. Nance did a fine job at C last season and Deng’s natural spot is the PF spot. With Walton favoring going small, I anticipate this is the direction he goes if Zubac looks like he did in SL.

    If Zubac though shows improvement on the normal NBA pace though, I expect he’ll see regular minutes at backup.

  4. Anonymous says

    Why not play Kuzma at the 3 behind BI? He has a lot of potential, so would give him some minutes. And would stretch the floor if he played with Deng at the 4 in the 2nd unit.

  5. Busboys4me says

    Either Brandon Rush or Ian Clark would be nice because they both played under Walton in Golden State. Both were somewhat effective in that system. Rush had an excellent bounce-back season after injury.

    I also have no problem bringing back Tyler Innis because he Ball-Handling skills, shot, and speed were good enough for spot minutes. The only issue I foresee is that he is in no way a starting quality point guard if Lonzo goes down (fatigue and/or injury). He is young enough though to improve.

  6. Laker Tim says

    I think we should sign Javale McGee as our backup center. Zubac needs more time to develop.

  7. Pbz06 says

    I’ve had similar concerns, but it gets easier if you don’t think of it in terms of PG/SG/SF/PF/C.

    Putting the 5 best guys that optimizes combinations for creating, shooting, rebounding, defending etc.

    In the old days, you got one or two of those aspects from each player. These days we don’t care if one guy averages 40 rebounds or if 5 guys average 8 each.

    We might only have 1 PG, but Ingram cam initiate offense and bring up the ball etc

  8. Chutch says

    Man if Tyler Ennis didn’t win the FO over by literally living at the practice facility he’s blown it big time. If Swaggy didn’t open his eyes to the career saving possibilities that Luke’s O can provide then no wonder there’s hesitation in bringing him back. Bummer, because it seemed there was something to build on. More than the current state of slim pickings remaining on the market.

    Perhaps it’s wishful thinking but if Deng could give us 15-20 good minutes at the 4 and if Nance can force himself to put up 3s make or miss, he could play the 3 along side Deng playing the 4 which would give us better defensive depth and improved floor spacing thus creating a strength from a weakness. Perhaps Deng too could learn a thing or two from witnessing Swagg’s revitalization.

  9. drrayeye says

    IMO, the real action in adjusting the roster will come through trades, not free agency.

    The three Laker players most likely involved will be Randle, Clarkson, and Deng because of their respective salary situations. We need to remember that Deng can still make a significant NBA contribution at PF, that Clarkston has shown great potential in a 6th man role, and that Randle could yet emerge as an NBA star in a breakout role this year. Until (or even if ever) they are traded, we need to embrace their roles in the 2017-2018 Lakers.

    Trades for any of them could come at any time–and the players returned to the Lakers could occupy any position. Like Laker management and coaches, we may need to rethink on the fly for the foreseeable future.

  10. Troy says

    Kuzma will be Ingram’s backup this year. He will move to PF once they unload Randal and Kuzma gets stronger.

  11. Old Timer says

    There are 13 in the roster but lots of holes in it. If Lonzo goes down can JC takes over.? He dribbles a lot and bad defense. Secondly, on C well, BL is injury prone w/ Nets, can you entrust Zu or Bryant? Bryant is a G-league imo. My choice sign Ennis, Allen and J. McGee plus Matt Thomas @ Vet min. Need a lot of insurance back ups if Plan A does not pan out
    Lonzo
    KCP
    Ingram
    Randle
    Lopez

  12. Travis Y. says

    Agree that we aren’t a perfect team, however the front office is envisioning position-less basketball. Teams are now thinking in terms of guards and bigs. Having a traditional point guard is less important as having someone who can be a play maker and guard opposing point guards.

    Let me pivot here and give some credit where I never imagined I’d give it, the Sacramento Kings front office. Mitch and Jim were tired of being turned down and gave long term expensive contracts to veterans to help guide the young rookies. Neither Deng or Mozgov were considered 1st, 2nd or even third tier free agents. Needless to say, spending ~35-40% of your salary cap on old veterans is a sure fire way to the bottom of the league.

    Now if you look at the Kings, they have its youth movement and got veterans on short 1 year deals until they can land a premier free agent or draft another high lottery pick.

    They say smart people learn from their mistakes. Wise people learn from others’ mistakes.

    Our front office has a vision and is executing on all cylinders. Stay away from long term contracts, develop the youth, improve defense, get close to .500, and wait for a marquee free agent.

  15. dxmanners says

    Looks like Matt Thomas parlayed his LV Summer League into a nice contract in Spain. I wish he was a Laker, but good for him.

  16. Robert Fisher says

    Was there something I missed? Thomas Bryant has not been signed. He was drafted in the second round that makes him eligible for that rookie minimum amount that happens to be what is left of the Lakers cap room. He is also eligible for the second 2-way contract.

    Also several of you say there are 13 on the Lakers Roster. There are only 12 signed to the Lakers and one signed to a 2-Way contract with the South Bay Lakers. That leaves three open roster spots on the Lakers. Looking at the depth chart with the FO comments about wanting a veteran PG, then that slots Clarkson at SG on the 2nd unit. If the FO finds their Veteran PG to mentor Lonzo, then that leaves a slot open for Ennis, which leaves only one spot open and no real 3rd string backup for Center and my guess is that slot may stay open into training camp.

    To me, Brewer and Kuzma could back up Ingram with some others sliding if it doesn’t work.

  17. Tom Daniels says

    Caruso was signed to the G league team because he plays the style the Lakers want to play and he can serve as an unselfish, G-league-Lonzo to build the same style and culture there. The Lakers said as much.

    The remaining 2 way is possibly Dozier (who missed summer league and has seemingly been forgotten but is very athletic and probably worth a look).

  18. MsWay says

    Very Pleased that we avoided the Rose/veteran Mentor for lonzo players so far.I thought that Ennis was a good prospect with upside.I also think that Ennis could learn some stuff from lonzo also and possibly keep the style and momentum moving in backup minutes and his three was getting good with confidence and playing time.(We should sign him and get the two point guards in the gym together now). As far as not bringing Thomas to camp,it does bum me out some but I think that PJ Dozier was the player that the FO really wanted to see and for good reason,Maybe he gets a camp invite and blue finally gets a chance?As far as the front court is concerned the roster is done in my opinion.Zubac is fine he had a confidence problem and game jitters from a fast paced game,really fast.I think Jr will give him some tuff love and the kid will get his mo jo back and develop some mental toughness around the rim( Catch and break the rim.)(Shoulder ,Arm and hand strength in the weight room and sprints non stop. Go Lakers