Lakers Rumors: Cheap Options to Pursue in Free Agency
By Jason Reed
J.J. Barea
Perhaps the Lakers want to take the other route in drafting Ball, and instead of bringing on a point guard they could bring in a shooting guard. Having Clarkson play point guard to end the season may be a sign of the future, and instead of moving him behind D’Angelo Russell they could keep him at point guard and attempt to bring in a shooting guard.
That shooting guard should J.J. Barea, who holds the same flexibility and could realistically play both guard spots. This move would give the Lakers a pretty small backup shooting guard, but would also give Jordan Clarkson an option to swing the ball out and drain a three.
J.J. Barea’s estimated annual worth in this free agency is just a tad under seven million dollars. In today’s NBA that is not bad at all, especially if the team only signs him for a year or two as his age is creeping up on him. Regardless, this is not a hefty fee to pay a guy that will have a good impact off the bench for Los Angeles.
In 22 averaged minutes per game, Barea has utilized the time he is given. Barea last season averaged 10.9 points, 5.5 assists, and 2.4 rebounds per game. If you stretch that out to around 25 minutes per game we could easily we a 12.0 point, 6.0 assists, and 3.0 rebounds per game line from Barea.
Having that kind of production off the bench would be great for the Lakers, and adds the veteran leadership the team currently lacks. For only seven million dollars, this could be an absolute steal for LA.