Los Angeles Lakers: 5 Free Agents they should target this offseason
By Zane Harris
As we patiently wait for the return of basketball, here are five potential free agents the Los Angeles Lakers should target.
With the NBA season possibly being suspended for the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the next guaranteed events on the basketball calendar is free agency. This class could make the difference between the Lakers spending only a single year as top dogs of the NBA and being a juggernaut dynasty that is built to last.
It will be assumed that the Lakers will be re-signing all of their key players like Anthony Davis and cap space will be taken into account. This means that all players being analyzed will be at or near the mid-level exception. Also, the only eligible players will be those that will be unrestricted free agents in free agency. Lastly, this list is in no particular order. With that being cleared up these are the five players that should be the top targets on the Lakers free agency board this offseason.
#5 Tristan Thompson
The first player on the list is Tristan Thompson. It is known that notable Klutch Sports clients have found their way onto the Los Angeles Lakers in ways that are favorable to the situation that LeBron James is in.
With that being said, Thompson is one of those clients and would likely take a pay cut to contend on a James led team again. This would help the Lakers on multiple levels. On one hand, Thompson would be a player that Lakers could play at center if the opposing team chose to play with a small-ball lineup.
Especially if the teams in the league begin to follow the lead of the Houston Rockets, Thompson would allow the Lakers to play someone who can play the role of a big man and control rebounds but is still athletic enough to keep up with and defend quicker guards he is likely to face in a small-ball lineup.
On top of this, Thompson will be 29 years old when he hypothetically signs with the Lakers. This means that he would still be in his athletic prime and could still vastly improve his game in his time with the team. He also has won a championship and spent multiple seasons with LeBron already.
This will lead to Thompson being an instant fit with the team and he already knows what to expect when playing with the team’s leader. Currently, Thompson is on a big contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers, however, the Cavaliers will not re-sign him as they have a frontcourt of Kevin Love and Andre Drummond. T
hompson will likely be looking to sign with a contender which will require him to take a pay cut. With all of that being said, it would make sense for both Thompson and the Lakers that he would end up on the Lakers roster at the beginning of the 2020-2021 season. Lastly, it is reported that he is interested in playing for the Celtics which would make stealing another player from Boston that much sweeter for the Lakers and their fans.