Reigning Sixth-Man Of The Year Lou Williams Signs With Lakers
After the Lakers failed to land one of the marquee big men on the market between LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre Jordan and Greg Monroe, they swung a low-risk, high-reward deal yesterday to acquire Pacers big man Roy Hibbert. In a follow-up move, the team has reportedly bolstered their backcourt rotation by signing free agent guard Lou Williams from the Toronto Raptors according to Yahoo! Sports:
Free agent Lou Williams has agreed to a 3-year, $21 million deal with Lakers, league sources tell Yahoo
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 5, 2015
The move to land Williams is a surprising one as there were no prior indications that he was on the team’s radar, but it is a smart, cap-friendly deal that gives the Lakers a reliable scoring punch off the bench.
Williams, 28, had a career year last season, earning NBA Sixth Man of the Year honors after averaging a career-high 15.5 points, 2.1 assists, and 1.1 steals per game for the Raptors. As the Lakers look to push the tempo with their young guards D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson honing the backcourt, “Sweet Lou” is the ideal third guard for the team and can fit next to either guard in a lineup. According to Synergy Sports Technology, Williams ranked second in the NBA in points via pull up jumpers last season per-40 minutes, proving himself worthy as an outlet for Clarkson or Russell.
What Williams is perhaps best-known for, is his ability to create shots off the dribble and has proven quite adept at using screens. As the NBA continues to push the need for shot creators, the Lakers now have three reliable ones in the guard rotation.
Granted, Williams has been labeled as a “chucker” known for inefficient shooting and ball-stopping tendencies. However, his 56.4% true shooting percentage this past season challenge that notion. There certainly may be some headache plays, but his veteran presence and overall ability to flat-out score will be a welcome commodity off the pine for LA.
Oh, and on the topic of inefficiency, how does the move for Lou affect the future of the Lakers’ resident chucker, Nick Young?
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In taking in Lou’s $7 million salary along with Hibbert’s $15.5M in the Pacers deal, the Lakers would be just slightly going over the projected $67 million salary cap, insinuating that perhaps one player could be on his way out. Moving Young and his nearly $6 million salary in an S&T for Williams or in the yet-to-be finalized Hibbert deal would make the most sense as the team now has a solid rotation at the guard position. However, it has been reported that the cap could be higher than expected at around $69 million, making any need to move a player to clear space nonexistent.
The Lakers have had a pretty solid last two days to calm the waters after many of the Lakers faithful went clamoring for the heads of the front office. With Hibbert and Williams in the fold, perhaps their next move could be to fill their void at the small forward position with a minimum contract or two. As of now, the team maintains flexibility heading into the highly-lauded 2016 offseason where the cap is expected to make a significant jump and Kobe’s $25 million comes off the books. Will the team fair better next summer? Too early to tell. But making these low-cost moves to develop a team foundation is certainly a step in the right direction.