More than 36 hours into free agency, the Los Angeles Lakers have yet to make a meaningful move to improve their roster.
That is somewhat surprising considering that leading into free agency on Sunday, it appeared that several factors were aligning for Los Angeles.
D’Angelo Russell opted into his $18.7 million contract, providing the Lakers an expiring mid-sized contract to use as a matching salary in a trade. LeBron James offered to take a pay cut for a difference-making nontaxpayer midlevel exception signing, including players such as Klay Thompson and Jonas Valančiūnas. And the backdrop entering the free-agency period was that rival teams made notable trades earlier in the week, indicating the trade market could be more active than expected despite the new punitive collective bargaining agreement restrictions.
Thompson, who was atop the wish list for James and the Lakers as far as realistic targets for either the nontaxpayer midlevel exception or in a sign-and-trade, whittled down his list of suitors to the Dallas Mavericks and Lakers, according to league sources. On Monday afternoon, Thompson chose the Mavericks, agreeing to a three-year, $50 million contract in a three-team sign-and-trade between the Mavericks, Golden State Warriors and Charlotte Hornets. Thompson spurned his hometown Lakers despite his longstanding ties to the franchise, including growing up a Lakers and Kobe Bryant fan and his father, Mychal, playing for the Showtime Lakers from 1987 to 1991. Mychal Thompson won two championships with the Lakers and is currently the team’s radio color commentator.
The second half of the Splash Brothers would’ve provided the Lakers with the type of “laser” — one of LeBron’s terms — that they’ve needed in the LeBron James-Anthony Davis era. Despite slipping as a scorer and defender after missing two seasons with ACL and Achilles injuries, the former Warrior remains one of the best shooters in the league. When also factoring head coach JJ Redick’s expertise as a shooter and desire to increase Los Angeles’ 3-point volume, Thompson would’ve been a dream fit on offense.
On defense, there certainly would have been questions. Thompson is a long way away from his former self, who earned an All-Defensive second-team nod in 2018-19 (and could’ve made one of the two teams several other years). The 34-year-old wing has become more forward than guard and is no longer capable of slowing down the game’s best perimeter scorers. The Lakers would’ve likely started him at small forward, further complicating their already shaky and limited perimeter defense.
But with Thompson ending up in Dallas, the Lakers officially struck out with all three of the candidates James was reportedly willing to take a pay cut for: Thompson, Valanciunas and James Harden (which always seemed like a stretch and was proven with him signing a contract with the LA Clippers for nearly triple the nontaxpayer midlevel exception). That’s a tough look for a franchise that prides itself on being the league’s premier destination and most star-friendly organization.
After missing out on Thompson, the Lakers quickly turned their attention to another James target: free-agent wing DeMar DeRozan. Similar to Thompson, DeRozan, 34, is both a potential non-taxpayer midlevel exception candidate and a sign-and-trade candidate for Los Angeles, according to league sources. He is another player whom James would be willing to take less for, league sources confirmed and ESPN first reported.
DeRozan is a 15-year veteran and six-time All-Star who is likely leaving his current team, the Chicago Bulls. He has deep Southern California ties as a Los Angeles native and USC alum, and has fondly discussed the potential of playing for the Lakers in recent years. The Lakers pursued him in the summer of 2021 before deciding to trade for Russell Westbrook instead.
Would @DeMar_DeRozan ever consider playing for the #Lakers?
"You can't never say no about playing home…Time will tell, we'll see where the cards fall." pic.twitter.com/IXnamokK64
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) May 15, 2024
DeRozan is an elite midrange scorer, clutch shot-maker and a good passer who would improve the Lakers’ roster and be a good value, particularly if he’s making less than $20 million or so. At the same time, DeRozan is a subpar 3-point shooter and defender, two s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s the Lakers need desperately around James and Davis. He hasn’t attempted more than three 3s per game since the 2017-18 season. He’s never shot above league average from deep, and he’s only shot above 30 percent in six of 15 seasons.
It’s not a perfect comparison, as they are different players and positions, but there is some overlap in how DeRozan’s limitations in shooting and defense could hurt the Lakers like Westbrook did. Playing both a high-usage player and non-floor-spacer is rarely a winning combination, especially when James and Davis are clearly better offensive options.
Like Thompson, DeRozan is more forward than guard at this stage of his career. But he’s even worse defensively, theoretically creating more problems for the Lakers on that end of the floor. Los Angeles needs more two-way players on its roster, and DeRozan simply is not one.
