After a disastrous start to the 2022-23 season, the Los Angeles Lakers made some wholesale changes at the deadline that turned their fortunes around, leading to a run to the Western Conference Finals where they were swept by the Denver Nuggets. Since winning a title in 2020, the Lakers had spent the last few offseasons turning over the majority of their roster each summer because all they could really do was sign players to short-term minimum or mid-level deals.
This summer, Rob Pelinka made clear that he wanted to keep most of their foundation intact after a conference finals run, recognizing the need for continuity going into Darvin Ham’s second season as head coach. As such, the Lakers looked to re-sign their top free agents around LeBron James and Anthony Davis, while looking to the outside to round out the roster and add some rotational upgrades. After doing so much work to overhaul the roster at the deadline, the Lakers main goal was to not undo all that hard work in finally putting together a mostly coherent rotation by seeing top contributors leave for other teams.
Here we’ll grade out the Lakers offseason moves in the Draft, free agency and contract extensions, and on the trade market.
Draft: B
The Lakers actually got to use their first round pick for the first time in a long time, and used that selection on Jalen Hood-Schifino out of Indiana. The 6’6 guard has a strong defensive pedigree, which surely intrigued head coach Darvin Ham, and if he can make strides on the offensive end it’s not hard to see the vision for him as a helpful part of the rotation in the future. Our Brad Rowland gave the Lakers a B for the selection on Draft night, with the following as the explanation for that grade.
Hood-Schifino’s efficiency at Indiana left a lot to be desired this season, which is definitely worth noting. There are caveats, including the fact that Indiana’s offensive structure was not conducive to his individual success, and Hood-Schifino does have very good tools when it comes to size and pick-and-roll ability. He’s also a stout defender, and if he can figure out the offensive side within a smaller role, the Lakers can maximize him.
The Lakers also added Maxwell Lewis out of Pepperdine with the 40th overall pick, adding a wing with some scoring punch who hopes to be the Lakers latest second round/UDFA success story.
Free Agency/Contract Extensions: A-
For what the Lakers had available to spend, they did incredibly well on the free agent market this summer. Re-signing Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves were at the top of the to-do list, and they were able to get Reaves, in particular, on a very team friendly deal after he wasn’t able to land a larger offer sheet from an outside team, allowing the Lakers to simply sign him to the 4-year, $54 million deal that was the max they were allowed to offer. They also were able to re-sign D’Angelo Russell to a 2-year, $37 million deal that keeps him around for at least one more year after he had an excellent finish to the regular season in his return to L.A., but struggled in the playoffs. Keeping those three around allows the Lakers to carry some continuity over to next season, something they haven’t done the past few years, but they also added some more rotational depth with a few external signings as well.
The biggest one was signing Gabe Vincent to a 3-year, $33 million deal to bolster their guard rotation even further, adding one of the breakout stars of the Heat’s run to the Finals a year ago. The Lakers also signed Taurean Prince on the bi-annual exception as well as Jaxson Hayes and Cam Reddish on minimums to round out their bench unit with some former lottery talents that they’ll hope can find success in smaller roles in Los Angeles. Vincent is the headliner of the group and is a particularly important addition as the Lakers needed to add players who have proven they can play at their best in the postseason. Adding another shot-creator who is a solid defender will give Ham another backcourt option in the playoffs, which we saw last year they did not have enough of, particularly given Russell’s shooting woes.
Finally, the Lakers worked out a new, $186 million extension with Anthony Davis, ensuring they have their star center in town through 2028. Inking Davis long-term ensures they won’t have to replace both of their superstars in the next few years, as LeBron will eventually call it a career for real.
Overall, the Lakers kept the most important members of last year’s rotation while also upgrading their backcourt and wing situations, and signed one of their two superstars long-term. That’s a very successful summer and this team looks to be better on paper than what they closed last season with, with the biggest concern coming into the season their frontcourt depth behind Davis. They will be quite thin at center, with Hayes as the only other player taller than 6’10 on the main roster, and are thus highly dependent on Davis playing a lot during the regular season and/or playing a lot of small ball.
Trades: INC
The Lakers have stayed out of trade rumors and dealings this summer, doing all of their roster work in free agency and the Draft. It would not be surprising if they end up in the mix for a reserve big man by the time the trade deadline comes around, but for now it seems they’re happy to let others be the focus of the major trade rumblings for once.