With the start of NBA free agency just around the corner, all signs point towards the Los Angeles Lakers bring back most of their players from last season.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Rob Pelinka again reiterated the importance of building continuity by keeping the Lakers’ core together. According to recent reports, this would include bringing back key free agents such as Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell, Lonnie Walker IV and Dennis Schroder.
Depending on what moves the Lakers make, they likely won’t have much cap space at their disposal to sign players from outside the organization. They will have a mid-level exception to use though, and according to Michael Singer of the Denver Post, one name to watch for is Denver Nuggets wing Bruce Brown:
One team with significant interest in signing Bruce Brown away from Denver is the Los Angeles Lakers, multiple sources told @denverpost.
The Lakers could offer him the full MLE ($12.3M annually). Nuggets can only offer up to $7.8M this year.
— Mike Singer (@msinger) June 28, 2023
For the Lakers to sign Brown they would likely need access to the non-taxpayer mid-level, which would mean declining the options of both Malik Beasley and Mo Bamba to free up some money. According to Dan Woike of the L.A. Times, this is an option the Lakers are seriously considering:
The Lakers getting to (and using) the full MLE has been an option the team has strongly considered in recent days. Bruce Brown is most definitely the kind of player they'd want from a mindset/skill department. https://t.co/810bwBwqhF
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) June 28, 2023
Brown would be a fantastic addition to the Lakers as a 3-and-D wing that also has some playmaking chops. Laker fans are very familiar with how good he was against L.A. in the Western Conference Finals, and he is coming off a career years with the Nuggets in which he averaged 11.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.1 steals while shooting 35.8% from 3-point range.
Not only would it give the Lakers another quality rotation play, but it would also weaken the Nuggets, who are obviously their biggest competition in the West going into next season.
Beasley and Bamba option dates are June 29
The deadline for the Lakers to pick up the options of Beasley and Bamba is Thursday, so what L.A. decides to do there will likely set the tone for free agency on Friday.
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