Los Angeles Lakers: The role players that will be huge hits or big misses

After missing out on Kawhi Leonard, the Los Angeles Lakers signed several role players, some of which are going to be massive hits or huge misses for the team.

The Los Angeles Lakers held out enough cap space to bring in Kawhi Leonard as a third superstar alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. However, after waiting over a week for Leonard to make his decision, the Lakers were left with the cap space as he signed with the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Lakers were left with max cap space and a roster that was extremely thin, so the front office went to work. The Lakers brought in several role players and now boast a roster that is deep enough to get through the trials and tribulations of the regular season and compete for an NBA Championship.

Fans know exactly what they are going to get out of some of the role players. JaVale McGee is going to get a few buckets, a good amount of boards and a block or two per game. Rajon Rondo is going to do his typical shtick and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will provide the three and D, and the occasional headaches.

There are some role players though that can either shoot for the moon and land in the stars or come crashing back down to Earth. These are the role players with the biggest variance of success in 2019, the ones that will make or break the Los Angeles Lakers.

Here are those players.

DeMarcus Cousins

This one is pretty obvious. The Los Angeles Lakers signed DeMarcus Cousins to a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the hopes that he can regain some of his old form that we saw prior to his Achilles injury.

We saw flashes of the vintage Boogie in Golden State last season but it was not consistent and he suffered a quad injury in the playoffs that saw him miss some time.

A healthy DeMarcus Cousins, even at 80 percent of what he once was, is a very dangerous asset that will put the Lakers at the top. An injured Cousins can turn into a locker room worry and have more negative implications than positive.

Alex Caruso

Alex Caruso is someone that I am very high on and so is the Los Angeles Lakers fanbase. Not only did Caruso impress in his short time in the NBA last season but he has the skillset to be the perfect starting point guard for the Lakers, even over Rondo.

Rondo might be the better all-around player right now, at least if you factor in experience, but what Caruso brings to the table meshes much more with the Lakers’ starting five.

He is a point guard that has no problem playing off-ball and scoring that way. Even though he has never been regarded as a lights out shooter, he did shoot 48 percent on 50 attempts last season.

That is obviously a tiny sample size but could be a look in at an improved shooting stroke that can at least hit his open shots. Not only that, but he has the size (6’5″) and the defensive ability to help make up the loss of Lonzo Ball as well as be on the court in the closing defensive moments of the game.

There is a ton of upside for Caruso, however, there is also the worry that he does not rise up to the occasion. 2019 will be very telling of his career and if he can have a long-term NBA career outside of the G League.

Avery Bradley

Avery Bradley was not in the initial signings that the Los Angeles Lakers made right after Leonard signed with the Clippers and the acquisition did kind of fly under the radar outside of the Laker fanbase.

Let’s not forget that just a few seasons ago Bradley was part of a Boston Celtics team that made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals and was a massive defensive piece of that team.

He was not as good in Detroit and then really was not great with the Los Angeles Clippers, becoming one of the most inefficient guards in the league. However, after being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, Bradley scored 16.1 points per game while averaging four assists and a steal.

He was not at the same level as before but we did see an improved play on the defensive end and drastically better offensive play.

Bringing that kind of production can make him one of the most dangerous weapons on the Lakers’ bench. On the other side of the coin, there is the possibility that he is more like his Clippers-self and becomes a non-factor in the postseason.