Lakers Offseason Weekend Transactions Recap

Welcome in to a special recap of the Lakers' offseason activity this past weekend. Last Friday, I made another rant, criticizing the Lakers' management of yet again waiting out on the decisions of big name free agents rather than going out and getting quality players simultaneously in the process. But the past weekend, the Lakers managed to make a couple moves to build their roster and salvage this godawful start to the free agency period. So here are the moves the Lakers made and I will give out my thoughts about each pick up.

Move 1: Acquisition of Roy Hibbert via Trade

So the Lakers lucked out on the LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Love sweepstakes. DeAndre Jordan signed with the Mavs. Marc Gasol agreed to a mega deal today to stay with the Grizzlies. The Kings refuse to give away DeMarcus Cousins. Ed Davis signed with the Blazers. The Lakers have a really big void at the Center position so they go out, reach out to the Pacers, and acquire Roy Hibbert this past Saturday. This trade was a way to salvage the Lakers' plan to get a big man in the free agency. This is basically done just to stop the bleeding for the Lakers. They also had Tyson Chandler, Kosta Koufus, and Robin Lopez on the radar, but Chandler signed with the Suns, Koufus with the Kings, and R-Lo with the Knicks. Had the Lakers not made this trade, the deeper the hole gets because there would've been no best option available for the Lakers to address the center position. The Pacers giving up Roy Hibbert was a blessing in disguise for the Lakers, not really in a way to shape them up to challenge the Golden State Warriors or the other stacked teams in the West. Hibbert fills in a desperate need for the Lakers in the Center position. Yes, we can continue to poke fun at the 0 points, 0 rebounds performance, but once he gets his head in the game, he could easily contribute 10-11 points, 7 rebounds a game and considering his size at 7'2, he provides the Lakers a much needed presence to defend the paint. The Lakers' interior defense was just plain awful last season because they didn't have a true rim protector. They were getting burned by the more quicker guards and manhandled by bigger players. With Hibbert, in the worst possible way, this won't happen too often. The assets to acquire Roy Hibbert is a 2nd round pick at best from what I read, so it's not that bad of a deal, but he has one more year on his contract, so the Lakers are renting a Center again, but it doesn't look like they had to give up too much unlike the last time they traded for a Center by whose name we should never dare to mention again in La La Land.

Move 2: Signed Reigning Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams

In the Lakers next move, which was yesterday, the Lakers made their first free agency signing. And it was a surprising quality move as they snatch reigning Sixth Man of the Year, Lou Williams from the Toronto Raptors. According to ESPN, the contract Williams signed onto for the Lakers was for 3 years for $21 million. The reason why I said this was surprising because not once did the Lakers were speculated to have interest in Williams or have him on their free agency radar. Credit where credit is due, this was a decent surprise by Mitch Kupchak. The acquisition of Lou Williams is what I exactly wanted the Lakers to do while chasing after star players and that was to get out there and get quality role players that could help now. I've always considered Lou Williams as an underrated role player because he can come off the bench and rack up double figure point totals. However, he is also a streaky shooter just like Nick Young, but nonetheless he is versatile and can play either the 1 (point) or 2 (shooting). Likely, Williams is projected to play the 2 considering Jordan Clarkson is there and will likely backup rookie D'Angelo Russell. This was a solid signing for the Lakers.

Move 3: Signed Brandon Bass

On the same day the Lakers signed Lou Williams, they also got out and signed Forward/Center, Brandon Bass from the longtime rival Celtics. Likely this signing is indicated that Bass will replace Carlos Boozer considering they haven't given Boozer a call to re-sign with the team. Bass will replace Boozer in terms of being that veteran presence for this Laker team that is trying to assemble a young core for the future in the post-Kobe Bryant era. Bass will help contribute decent numbers for the team, my only question is will he come off the bench or be a starter day one? Because the Lakers need to find playing time for Julius Randle so he can develop quickly and live up to his potential as a 7th round pick. Preferrably, I would like to see Bass as a contributor off the bench to avoid anything that'll hinder Randle's development. Regardless, if he starts or comes off the bench, Bass is able to put up decent numbers that are not too impressive, but those numbers will be decent for the beneficiary of the team. And yes if Randle gets hurt again (hopefully not), look for Bass to be that insurance policy player, but I'm projecting him to come off the bench.

So what do you think Laker Nation? Do you like any of these moves, do you not like any of these moves? Which moves are good and which moves are bad? Feel free to comment below. I'll probably have a post on the full offseason activity for the Lakers once they pick up with their moves in terms of players gained and players lost. Don't expect to see frequent postings until late August, but if you want to know where I am, I am over at my friend, Stillmattic's blog at bleachzealot.blogspot.com, doing yet another collaboration. I'll see you guys later.