The Lakers’ Busy Start to the 2023 Free Agency
Prior to last February’s trade deadline, the Los Angeles Lakers completed a series of trades for players who helped the franchise jump from 13th place in the Western Conference to a team that made the Western Conference Finals as the seven seed.
Despite being swept by the Denver Nuggets in the West Finals, the Lakers have plenty of things to be happy about. After all, they began the 2022-2023 season with a 2-10 slate- prompting many to count the Purple and Gold out of the playoff picture.
However, with LeBron James’ future with the Lakers beyond this year in flux, the pressure is on the front office to continue building a winning team to complement the James-Anthony Davis duo. The good news is: the Lakers’ busy start to the 2023 free agency period is positioning the team for success in 2023-24. In the words of ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins, “The Lakers right now are winning the free agency,”
New Acquisitions
Perhaps, the biggest signing the Lakers undertook to open the free agency is that of Gabe Vincent, who, to many, was the Miami Heat’s third-best player in their run to the 2023 NBA Finals. Vincent agreed to a $33M three-year contract with the Lakers. He averaged 12.7 points, 3.5 assists, and 1.4 rebounds and could be the guard the Lakers lacked in the Denver series.
Another big acquisition by the Lakes was signing Cam Reddish to a $4.6M two-year contract. Reddish played for the Portland Trail Blazers last season, where he averaged 11 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 44.3% field goal shooting. While the deal won’t make many headlines, it provides the team with additional firepower off the bench on a cheap contract.
The Lakers also signed a pair of bigs in Jaxon Hayes and Taurean Prince. Hayes averaged five points, 2.8 rebounds, and 55.1% field goal shooting for the New Orleans Pelicans last season and could become the primary backup for Anthony Davis. Meanwhile, Prince played for the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2022-23 and averaged 9.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, on 38.1% three-point shooting.
These types of under the radar, cost-effective signings are just what the Lakers needed, as they had more than a few contributors from last season’s playoff run who needed new deals as well.
The Returnees
Aside from acquiring depth via free agency, the Lakers also kept some of their core players who had breakout seasons for the purple and gold last year.
Rui Hachimura, acquired via trade last February, agreed to a $51M three-year deal to remain in Hollywood. He averaged 12.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, on 48.7% three-point shooting during the 2023 playoffs- inflicting most of his damage off the bench.
D’Angelo Russell, another player whom the Lakers acquired last February, also agreed to remain in LA by signing a two-year deal worth $37M dollars. Fans have already pointed out that Russell “vanished” in the Denver series, but over the grind of an 82 game regular season, Russell will get another chance to prove his worth. He averaged 17.4 points, 6.1 assists, 2.9 rebounds, on 41.4% shooting from three last season with the Lakers. However, those averages dropped to 13.3 points, 4.6 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 31% three-point shooting in the postseason.
If you’re going to nitpick any signing, the Russell one is the easiest to poke holes in. His defense at times is suspect, and his postseason performance last year left much to be desired. However he appears to have accepted his role on the team, and after a failed Russell Westbrook experiment, the Lakers appear to be prioritizing “fit” over “best available” on the market this summer.
Perhaps, the most important player the Lakers retained is Austin Reaves. Reaves, arguably the Lakers’ third-best player last season, agreed to a $56M four-year deal. He averaged 16.9 points, 4.6 assists, 4.4 rebounds, on 44.3% three-point shooting in his first playoff run. He appeared comfortable regardless of the situation last year, and earned the trust of James & Co. in clutch moments. A feat that only a handful of NBA stars can lay claim to.
After years of running with a star laden, top heavy team, Los Angeles appears to be taking the opposite approach that clubs like Phoenix are taking this year by surrounding two stars with a deep roster from top to bottom. An approach the team hopes gets them out of the gates quicker than they were in 2022-23.
-Iggy Gonzales
Photo: Miguel Discart. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.