The Lakers stand at 14 guaranteed roster spots with the signing of Talen Horton-Tucker. Teams are allowed to have 15 spots and the question is: what should the Lakers do with the last spot? There are still players available in free agency that will fit the bill for the team. Thabo Sefolosha and Justin Holiday are available as wing defenders. What about Kyle Korver?
Do the Lakers wait on it in case buy-out candidates are available?
Kyle and I discuss.
Kendrew: As someone who has their pulse on the zeitgeist that is the NBA offseason, what do you think would be the best course of action for the Los Angeles Lakers?
Kyle: That’s a very generous statement to make for me, but I like to think I have some idea how teams think. First of all, the team absolutely should not use it on JR Smith. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported earlier today that Smith joining the Lakers was unlikely, and I hope it remains that way. The Lakers did a great job of acquiring shooting in the offseason, but you can never have too much spacing.
True to my name and the Monster energy drink society, I think that Kyle Korver would be the best player to fill the last roster spot with.
Kendrew: With so much shooting on the Lakers, where do you think Kyle Korver would fit in their rotation?
Kyle: Korver would definitely get around 10-15 minutes a night. He’s still a very dominant shooter in the league despite having a down year last year.
If not Korver, I agree that Igoudala would be a great addition to the team as well. But it doesn’t appear that the Memphis Grizzlies are looking to buy him out at the moment. Justin Holiday would be interesting.
However, we have to remember this is the 15th player on a team that will likely have an 8-9 man rotation.
Kendrew: I do believe that if Holiday does end up on the team he’d get more playing time than say, Troy Daniels. He fits the need of a wing shooter (34.8% from 3 on 5.7 attempts) but does need work in terms of defense as he had a defensive rating of 110.1 with both Chicago and Memphis last year.
Kyle: I think that it would hopefully shift Rondo completely out. Dudley and Daniels would both take playing time cuts. Korver can sub in for Green to keep a prolific shooter on the court at all times. Igoudala provides defensive efficiency.
Kendrew: Iguodala with the second unit would be terrifying. Definitely, something I’d love to see.
Kyle: I think that LeBron will play some small-ball center late in games. It could be something the team looks at, but Cousins looked great at his introductory press conference and McGee played some of his best basketball ever last season. Center, for once, is a position I’m not concerned with.
Kendrew: Really? With Davis at the 4? I’m still a bit skeptical about the position just because we don’t know if Cousins is fully healed from the quad injury as well, but if McGee can get back to his pre pneumonia form, it’d be great.
Kyle: I wouldn’t be surprised to see LeBron at the five if he isn’t at point guard.
Kendrew: Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think he played too many minutes at the 5 last season.
Kyle: He didn’t much last year, but a lot has changed between now and then. The roster is completely different with a new head coach and an older LeBron coming off of an injury. I could see it being a role he moves into.
Kendrew: Yeah, I’m very curious as to how LeBron will adjust to the roster and what he’s asked for from the coaching staff
