The Los Angeles Lakers offseason has been anything but ordinary. After signing LeBron James to a four-year deal, the collection of veterans signed onto one-year contracts has been a cast of bandits including JaVale McGee, Lance Stephenson and Rajon Rondo.
Alongside those signings, however, the Lakers showed interest in some prominent names to shore up their depth. Speaking on ESPN’s Lowe Post, Philadelphia 76ers shooting guard JJ Redick admitted that there he had discussions with the Lakers about a contract after James’ signing:
On the Lowe Post, JJ Redick said he and the Lakers had discussions during free agency.
“Once LeBron made his decision, the Lakers were sort of involved as well. There was an opportunity there.”
— Jacob Rude (@JacobRude) September 13, 2018
Redick ended up staying in Philly on a one-year deal worth $12.25 million, similar to the contract the Lakers handed out to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope immediately after James’ signing.
Redick would have been a pretty great fit on the Lakers given his solid defensive ability and his stellar shooting and off-ball movement but he’s not the only veteran guard that the Lakers had discussions with.
According to ESPN’s Marc Spears on The Jump (h/t Christian Rivas of Silver Screen and Roll), Jamal Crawford has admitted that he has received some interest from the Lakers (among other teams) in free agency. Crawford declined a player option to stay with the Minnesota Timberwolves but is yet to sign a contract elsewhere.
Crawford is known as an all-time great sixth man but despite looking the same as he did when he entered the league, his skills have diminished some. He is not the most efficient scorer and his defense is a liability. It’s not clear whether the Lakers will value his volume scoring on a team that has quite a few good scorers on it.
The Lakers have an empty roster spot currently after opting to buy out Luol Deng’s contract. However, there does not seem to be any traction on the team signing someone to fill the position. At the moment, it seems more likely that Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka keep the spot open into the season in case of lopsided trades or buyout candidates.
