What Can the Lakers Do After Missing Out on Top Free Agents?

Coming into the offseason the Lakers had many questions, but so far we haven’t gotten many answers. The Lakers did address their coaching vacancy after firing Darvin Ham and hiring JJ Redick, but from a player personnel perspective, there are still many holes in this squad to fill. The Lakers have their two stars, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but outside of that they are kind of depleted. Instead of signing exciting free agents, they are currently resigning players like Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and D’Angelo Russell and expecting them to play better than what they are capable of.

Following the NBA Draft where the Lakers took Dalton Knecht who was a steal for them with the 17th pick and predictably took Bronny James in the second round, the Lakers looked to be in the market for a big free agent to possibly push this team to the next level. However, after the first round of free agency, the Lakers for the most part have just stayed put and instead resigned their current players on the roster. The Lakers were clearly in the market for a new guard but they didn’t make a move with the Hawks for Dejounte Murray who went to the Pelicans for low trade compensation, and they came up short on acquiring Klay Thompson who opted to sign with the Dallas Mavericks.

Even with LeBron James reportedly willing to take a pay cut from the Lakers on his new deal to try and help the team acquire a big free agent the Lakers have simply just missed the boat on a big-name player that could help move the needle for them. It now seems that the Lakers' only hope of acquiring a new piece that could make the starting lineup and meaningfully contribute would be either Tyus Jones or DeMar DeRozan. Even then, it seems unlikely that LeBron’s Lakers could compete in a stacked Western Conference that has only become better this offseason.