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There are several aspects of the Lakers‘ monumental summer, one in which the roster was entirely overhauled and rebuilt around star Luka Doncic, that can be debated. Walker Kessler was probably the right focal point for L.A., but did the team give up too much (two first-round draft picks and two pick swaps) just for the right to pay Kessler $130 million over four years? Could the team have been more aggressive in pursuing Jonathan Kuminga? Should they have maybe prioritized getting an actual starting power forward?
All fair questions that can be debated logically.
But one thing the Lakers did that would seem to be a mistake and can’t really be debated is that the team weirdly overcommitted to the three supporting-cast contracts it gave out to Sandro Mamukelashvili and Quentin Grimes, who got four-year deals during a summer in which few players got more than two-year deals. Collin Sexton, too, was signed with the room exception, but got an option year that the Lakers really did not need to give out.
Lakers Moves Created Confusion
The big question for the Lakers: Why? No one was looking to give Mamukelashvili four years, not for a career backup who has been with three teams in five seasons. There might be a better argument for Grimes–two-way wings are hard to find–but still, he has been with four teams in five years and is also a career backup.
Former Grizzlies executive John Hollinger noted that the Lakers were criticized in league circles for those decisions.
Writing in The Athletic, he noted, “In a summer where most role players, and even some starters, had to either take short deals or accept longer ones without full guarantees, the Lakers raised eyebrows by giving out fully guaranteed four-year deals with player options to three different players in free agency: Walker Kessler, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Quentin Grimes.”
Deandre Ayton Trade ‘Raised Eyebrows’
But that was not all. There was some puzzlement around the Lakers’ trade of Deandre Ayton, the big man who spent last season with the Lakers, opted into his contract for this season, but was sent to the Wizards for Jaden Hardy and second-round picks.
Hollinger added: “The trade of Deandre Ayton also raised eyebrows, as it generated just $2.1 million in extra cap room. While that money (about $1.4 million of it, technically) was needed to complete their free-agent deals on the terms that were agreed to, the wiggle room could have been created in other ways, such as by trading or stretching Dalton Knecht.”
Lakers Lacking Depth up Front
Instead, of course, the Lakers wound up with Kevon Looney as the backup center. No doubt, Looney’s reputation as a valuable locker room presence helped the Lakers’ decision to sign him, but the Lakers had better hope that Looney does not need to play too much.
Looney played just 14.7 minutes per game over 21 games last season in New Orleans, a team that won 26 games. And, Hollinger pointed out, while Doncic likes lob-threat bigs, Looney had just one dunk the entire season.
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