While a healthy LeBron James and Anthony Davis are clearly two of the top five players in the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers need to upgrade their other three starters to be able to compete for the championship next season.
The harsh reality is Dennis Schroder, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Andre Drummond would not be guaranteed to start on any of the other top teams with whom the Lakers would be competing for a championship next year. That’s why the Lakers’ top priority this summer should be to upgrade their starting point guard, shooting guard, and center positions with true starter quality players who can complement LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
The Lakers need a starting point guard who can run the offense and shoot the three, a starting shooting guard who’s an elite high volume 3-point shooter, and a starting center who can stretch defenses and protect the rim. The problem is the Lakers have no cap space to sign free agents, only two players with tradeable contracts, and just their 2021 and 2027 first round picks to upgrade their starting lineup to championship caliber this summer.
While the Lakers don’t have the trading chips to land a third superstar like Bradley Beal or Zach Lavine, here are three second tier NBA stars who would transform LA’s starting lineup into a championship caliber fivesome.
1. Replace Dennis Schroder with Derrick Rose
While Dennis Schroder has talent, he’s not a good enough playmaker or 3-point shooter to be the starting point guard on a championship team. He’s actually better suited to be a backup point guard coming off the bench.
Unfortunately, Dennis has made it clear at this point in his career that he wants the role and salary of a starting point guard rather than coming off the bench like he did when he was 6MOY runner up for the OKC Thunder. Schroder will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Since the Lakers don’t have the cap space to replace him, they will have to overpay or sign-and-trade him to avoid losing him for nothing in free agency this summer.
The perfect candidate to replace Schroder as the Lakers’ starting point guard would be the Knicks’ Derrick Rose, an unrestricted free agent whom LA should try to sign with their $10 million non-taxpayer Mid Level Exception. The 32-year old Rose is coming off a stellar season with New York where he averaged 14.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists in 26.8 minutes per game shooting 48.7% from the field, 41.1% from three, and 88.3% from the line.
Rose would better complement LeBron and AD and give the Lakers a proven starting quality point guard who was a better 3-point shooter (41.4% vs. 33.5%) and playmaker (3.0 vs. 2.0 assists-to-turnover) than Schroder.
2. Replace Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with Buddy Hield
While he’s a plus defender, shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has averaged just 9.3 and 9.7 points per game the last two seasons, which is not what the starting shooting guard on a championship team should average.
The Lakers’ single biggest problem offensively is the lack of high volume, high percentage 3-point shooting. While KCP shot 38.5% and 41.0% from three over the last two seasons, he still only averaged 1.6 threes per game. What the Lakers desperately need is a shooting guard who can not only get open but also won’t hesitate to rain 8 to 10 threes per game. In other words, a top-15 volume 3-point shooter like Steph Curry or Damian Lillard.
The perfect candidate to replace Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is Sacramento shooting guard Buddy Hield, who was the third most prolific 3-point shooter in the league after Curry and Lillard with 10.2 threes per game. Averaging 4.0 made threes per game and shooting 39.1% from deep, Hield would give the Lakers the high volume, high percentage 3-point shooter they need to free up LeBron James and Anthony Davis to attack the paint.
The Kings have been looking to move Buddy Hield, who has three year’s left on his contract at $22.8, $20.8, and $18.9 million per year, for some time now. They need cap space to invest in several promising young players. Offering a package of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Talen Horton-Tucker should be enough for Sacramento. KCP is a proven quality two-way rotation player and THT is a future superstar whom the Kings can build around.
Replacing KCP with Hield would solve many of the Lakers 3-point shooting woes and catapult them from the bottom five in attempted 3-point shots and 3-point percentage to the top-ten in the league in both categories.
3. Replace Andre Drummond with Myles Turner
While the Lakers hoped the Andre Drummond experiment would somehow work out with him re-signing this summer for the NT MLE, it’s obvious the Big Penguin was not a good fit alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Andre Drummond not only didn’t solve the Lakers’ rim protection problems on defense but also didn’t provide the spacing LA desperately needed to prevent opposing teams from packing the paint against LeBron and AD. While they still contend Drummond did not have enough time to learn how to play with James and Davis, Andre simply does not have the low post offensive game or natural rim protection instincts the Lakers need.
The player the Lakers need to be their starting center is the Pacers’ Myles Turner, who led the entire NBA with 3.4 blocked shots per game. Turner is the perfect front court candidate to play center alongside Anthony Davis. Myles not only solves the Lakers’ rim protection problems but also gives them a stretch five center whose career 35% 3-point shooting can space the floor and open up lanes for LeBron James and Anthony Davis to attack.
The Indiana Pacers are looking to trade Turner because the double bigs, twin towers lineups featuring him and Sabonis have not worked. Turner currently makes $18 million per year and has two years remaining on his contract. Turner will be in high demand and the price high because of his age and skillset but Kyle Kuzma and the Lakers’ 2021 and 2027 first round draft picks for Myles should be enough to tempt Indiana to trade him to LA.
The 25-year old, 6′ 11,” 250 lb Turner would provide the Lakers with the perfect modern center who can protect the rim and stretch the floor and allow the injury prone Anthony Davis to play the four all of the time.
Replacing Dennis Schroder, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Andre Drummond with Derrick Rose, Buddy Hield, and Myles Turner would dramatically upgrade the Lakers’ starting lineup for next season.
The changes would improve the Lakers at both ends of the court. Davis and Turner would put a lid on the basket defensively and five capable 3-point shooters would open up the floor for the Lakers to get to the rim on offense. The Lakers would lose some depth off the bench but Pelinka should be able to re-sign stalwart reserves like Alex Caruso and Markieff Morris and maybe pick up some other quality veterans for the bench like TJ McConnell.
There are other candidates the Lakers could pursue to upgrade their starting lineup. For example, starting point guard targets could include players like Malcolm Brogdon, Kyle Lowry, or even Russell Westbrook or Chris Paul. Starting shooting guard targets could include CJ McCollum, Terry Rozier, Evan Fournier, Malik Beasley, or Devonte Graham. Starting center targets could include Kristaps Porzingis, Chris Boucher, or Christian Wood.
A starting lineup of Derrick Rose, Buddy Hield, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Myles Turner would give the Los Angeles Lakers the offensive fire power and defensive rim protection to win their 18th championship.