The Los Angeles Lakers have to nail their offseason decisions to become a true title contender next season. Despite heightened expectations and having home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, the Lakers were an easy out in five games against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
To avoid the same fate next season, the Lakers must get more physical and better defensively, meaning they must turn to free agency and the trade market for help this summer.
One of the players rumored to be a Lakers target is someone whom they just encountered: Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker. L.A. fans saw firsthand the impact Alexander-Walker had in the playoffs with his ability to guard multiple positions and bring intensity, while being able to make plays and hit threes on the other end of the floor — a true two-way force.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker Is the Perfect but Unattainable Lakers Target
The Lakers simply don't have enough players in that mold, making Alexander-Walker the perfect offseason target. He fits seamlessly next to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves as a defense-first point-of-attack defender who isn't an offensive liability like Jarred Vanderbilt or Gabe Vincent.
Unfortunately, the Lakers' path to acquiring Alexander-Walker is a challenging one.
Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times painted a bleak picture of the possibility of the Lakers landing the Canadian guard. Woike revealed that the Lakers are probably too late in trying to acquire Alexander-Walker since the $5.7 million taxpayer mid-level exception the Lakers possess will not be enough for him.
Alexander-Walker will likely require something close to a full mid-level exception ($14.2 million) in annual salary for his next contract. The Lakers don't have that available, making it nearly impossible for them to outbid teams on the open market.
Considering that the Timberwolves guard was playing on a below-market value deal, making $4.3 million last season, it would make sense for him to prioritize money over his role with a potential suitor.
Unless general manager Rob Pelinka has an unexpected trick up his sleeve (for example, a potential sign-and-trade), it's hard to imagine the Lakers winning the Alexander-Walker sweepstakes this summer, forcing them to look elsewhere for backcourt depth.