After a disappointing 2021-22 season in which they missed the playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers have seen a complete overhaul of their roster this summer with only LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Austin Reaves and Wenyen Gabriel remaining.
The latest addition was a reunion as the Lakers brought back point guard Dennis Schroder on a one-year contract. He takes up the 14th out of 15th possible roster spots after the Lakers previously opened up one by trading Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson for Patrick Beverley.
Before deciding to reunite with Schroder, the Lakers did their due diligence by working out some of the available free agents. According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Shabazz Muhammad, Jeremy Lamb, Dwayne Bacon and Miye Oni were among the recent veterans to come in for workouts:
Sources: The Los Angeles Lakers brought in several free agents for workouts, including former lottery picks Shabazz Muhammad and Jeremy Lamb. Dwayne Bacon, Miye Oni and others also worked out for the Lakers, @hoopshype has learned.
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) September 17, 2022
Muhammad is a former first-round pick out of UCLA who has been playing overseas and reportedly worked out for the Lakers earlier in the summer as well.
Of this bunch, Lamb has the best NBA pedigree although he is coming off one of his worst seasons, averaging 7.3 points on 38.3% shooting in 56 games with the Indiana Pacers and Sacramento Kings.
While the Lakers can use some shooting on the wing, Lamb would fill a similar role as players currently on the roster like Schroder, Beverley, Reaves, Kendrick Nunn and Lonnie Walker IV.
None of the players in this report are taller than 6’6″, and considering the Lakers are in the luxury tax and it would cost them around $7 million to sign a minimum player, it seems that these workouts took place before the decision to sign Schroder.
Roster spots could open up if the Lakers make another trade, but with training camp on the horizon, it’s likely that L.A. starts the season with 14 players to maintain roster flexibility as they have in past years.
New head coach Darvin Ham has preached a competitive atmosphere at the practice facility though, so it is good to see they are using the entire summer to evaluate players who are and aren’t on the roster.
Westbrook coming off the bench?
Another thing that Ham is currently evaluating is what his starting lineup and rotations will look like. While he previously said Westbrook would be a starter, recent reports indicate he is considering bringing the point guard off the bench as only James and Davis have set spots going into training camp.
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