2019 NBA free agency is underway and while many teams made significant moves to improve themselves for the 2019-20 season, one team who stayed quiet was the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers have just over $32 million in cap space to use, but they believe they have a legitimate shot to sign Kawhi Leonard, so they cannot spend any of that money yet.
Considering the Lakers only currently have four players on their roster and even if they don’t sign Leonard, they will still need to fill out the roster with some players on minimum salaries.
They don’t need to wait on Leonard’s decision to hand out minimum deals, and it appears the Lakers have begun doing that. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Lakers have agreed to sign Troy Daniels to a one-year, $2.1 million dealt:
Free agent Troy Daniels has agreed to a one-year, $2.1M with the Lakers, agent Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports tells @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Daniels gives the Lakers an elite shooter to pair with LeBron James and Anthony Davis and does not affect the team’s cap space.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2019
As Charania alluded to, this is a minimum deal so it does not affect the team’s cap space and potential pursuit of Leonard.
What Daniels brings to the table for the Lakers is shooting as he is a career 40.0% shooter from three-point range in six NBA seasons. The 6’4″, 205 pound guard originally went undrafted out of VCU in the 2013 NBA Draft and has spent time with the Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Charlotte Hornets, Memphis Grizzlies and Suns organizations.
The 27-year-old played in 51 games for the Suns during the 2018-19 NBA season, averaging 6.2 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.5 assists while shooting 41.1% from the field, 38.1% from three-point range and 78.3% from the free-throw line.
It’s no secret the Lakers need shooters to surround LeBron James and Anthony Davis with, and Daniels may be one of the best options out there for a minimum deal. Daniels does not do much else, but if he can provide the Lakers a consistent knockdown shooter off the bench, then this will be a positive signing for Los Angeles.