How do the Los Angeles Lakers project for 2019-20 after filling out their roster with a flurry of signings in the 24 hours after Kawhi Leonard passed on their offer?
With the other stars on the market this summer long committed, Leonard's decision prevented the Lakers from adding a third current All-Star to their duo of LeBron James and newly acquired Anthony Davis. Instead, the Lakers signed seven players to go with three under contract after the Davis trade and two more who had already agreed to sign for the minimum.
Learning their lesson, the 2019-20 Lakers were built with more depth and shooting than last year's ill-fated team that ended the season in the lottery. They'll also have a second star after lacking top-end talent when LeBron was sidelined by injury. Is that enough for the Lakers to contend in a crowded Western Conference?
Assessing the Lakers' moves
Waiting nearly a week for Leonard to decide on his next stop proved costly for the Lakers, whose options were limited because so many of even the second-tier free agents were off the board by the time their $30 million-plus in cap space was finally available.
Fortunately for the Lakers, Danny Green was willing to wait. To beat a standing offer for Green from the Dallas Mavericks, the Lakers offered him a sizable chunk of their cap space, agreeing to a two-year, $30 million deal that was well worth it at this point. Green was the top 3-and-D role player on the market entering free agency and is an ideal fit alongside LeBron and AD, so it's no surprise he was the Lakers' first target after Leonard.
The Lakers also prioritized bringing back a number of their free agents. Center JaVale McGee, who played for the veterans minimum in 2018-19, got a raise on a two-year, $8.2 million deal with a player option on the second season. They also brought back point guards Rajon Rondo (on a two-year deal for the minimum with a player option) and Alex Caruso (two years, $5.5 million) and shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who got $16 million over two years after playing the last two seasons for the Lakers on year-to-year deals.
When the market for former All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins dried up, the Lakers stepped in with a one-year, $3.5 million deal that carries little risk. If Cousins struggles to accept what will apparently be a reserve role behind McGee, the Lakers can move on painlessly. If Cousins plays even like we saw last season with the Golden State Warriors coming back from an Achilles rupture, he'll be a bargain at that price, providing a stretch option at center and scoring with the second unit.
Additionally, the Lakers signed shooting specialist Quinn Cook to a two-year, $6 million deal to give them a better floor-spacing option at point guard. Those contracts, along with minimum deals previously reported for guard Troy Daniels and forward Jared Dudley, would give the Lakers 13 players if they sign second-round pick Talen Horton-Tucker to an NBA contract. Within hours of having only enough players to put a five-man lineup on the court, the Lakers are closing in on a full roster. They do still have a couple of spots to add players who are waived at buyout, with Kyle Korver a prime target.
Lakers put more shooting around stars
This time last year, we were puzzled over the Lakers' confounding refusal to put quality outside shooters around LeBron. In an interview during a Las Vegas summer league game, then-Lakers president Magic Johnson called that a strategic choice based on the previous season's playoffs.
"Houston had tough guys. Boston had tough guys," Johnson said on an ESPN broadcast. "So what did I bring in? Tough guys. That's how I'm building it. I took a lot from watching Boston play, watching Houston play, then advancing, and they beat all the teams that had all the great shooters."
The Lakers' roster on 2018 opening night included just one player, second-year guard Josh Hart, who had made more than 37% of his career 3-point attempts. By the trade deadline, with the Lakers fighting for a playoff spot, the front office admitted its mistake. The Lakers dealt for two stronger 3-point shooters in Reggie Bullock (40% career) and stretch 5 Mike Muscala (36.5%).
Though Bullock and Muscala both left in free agency before Leonard's decision, the Lakers still prioritized shooting in their pickups. Of the five newcomers they signed as free agents, four have shot better than 39% on 3s in their careers.
Because of their other limitations, Cook, Daniels and Dudley may not play heavy minutes. But Green alone is a more dangerous 3-point shooter than any the Lakers had on their roster last year, and Cook and Caruso (40% on 93 career attempts) give them two better spacers at point guard than the Rondo-Lonzo Ball duo. Cousins and Davis, though below-average in terms of accuracy, do give the Lakers two centers capable of shooting 3s -- something they lacked last season before trading for Muscala.
Lakers not favorites, but legit contenders
Whichever LA team signed Leonard was inevitably going to be favored to win the championship, especially with the Clippers' additional pickup of Paul George. Without a third star, the Lakers weren't going to reach that level almost no matter how well they did with their cap space. Still, getting Green and some other quality role players gives the Lakers enough depth around their star duo to be considered West contenders.
During the regular season, improved depth and the arrival of Davis should give the Lakers the ability to be more competitive with LeBron on the bench -- hopefully allowing him more rest with an eye toward staying fresh for the playoffs. Come the postseason, the Lakers' best five-man lineups could be on par with any in the West outside their fellow Staples Center tenants.
Presumably, the Lakers will start one of the point guards and McGee at center, meaning Davis gets to start at his preferred power forward spot and Kyle Kuzma can anchor the second unit along with Cousins. Late in games, however, the Lakers will surely rely on their wing depth to create more interchangeable lineups with more shooting.
I'd suspect new Lakers coach Frank Vogel will try to close games with LeBron at the point and Davis at center flanked by Caldwell-Pope, Green and Kuzma. That fivesome would be able to switch most any pick defensively and should provide sufficient spacing for the LeBron-AD two-man game on offense.
Besides the Clippers, I'd still put the Lakers behind the Utah Jazz in the West pecking order. Utah also improved this summer by adding Bojan Bogdanovic and Mike Conley, but it did so from a starting point of the conference's second-best point differential during the 2018-19 regular season. They're more likely than the Lakers to produce the combination of top-10 offense and defense that typically marks contending teams.
But neither Utah nor anyone in the West, save the Clippers, can match the Lakers' combination of top-end talent with Davis and James. Given sufficient support, that puts the Lakers in the mix to win the West.