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Los Angeles Lakers: Three massive mistakes to avoid this offseason

By Jason Reed

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - OCTOBER 10: Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations Earvin "Magic" Johnson arrives at the Lakers' preseason game against the Golden State Warriors at T-Mobile Arena on October 10, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Lakers defeated the Warriors 123-113. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - OCTOBER 10: Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations Earvin "Magic" Johnson arrives at the Lakers' preseason game against the Golden State Warriors at T-Mobile Arena on October 10, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Lakers defeated the Warriors 123-113. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

3. Sign several veterans to one-year contracts

It is just fine to sign some veterans to a one-year contract. JaVale McGee, for example, is the perfect player to sign for one year. He is going to get the veteran minimum regardless of where he goes and is going to pick a team that he thinks will contend.

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In return, McGee was undoubtedly the best non-LeBron signing that the Los Angeles Lakers had. While he is not a star by any mean, he did make a rather large difference around the basket for the Lakers.

Then there are other veterans, such as Rajon Rondo, that you should not sign to one-year deals. Rondo can still get a decent contract in free agency and is already thinking about his next deal during the entire course of this deal.

This forces these veterans to want the ball more and produce more that way they can get paid more. It is not hard to see how this inflicts with a young core that is trying to blossom.

It is understandable why the Lakers did what they did. The team was unable to snag Paul George and needed to use the cap space for something. However, the team did not want to sacrifice any cap space this summer as a result.

That is the beauty of the one-year deals. We all saw the ugly side of them this season when the veterans that came in were unable to hold their end of the bargain.

The Lakers cannot simply continue to bide time and hope that something happens and taking this strategy would indicate just that.

Next. Exciting sleeper head coach options. dark

The team has no idea how many more years of prime LeBron are left in the tank and simply staying afloat like this is not the right approach.

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