In last year’s NBA Finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers had a handful of perimeter defenders who could knock down 3-pointers at a high clip. Andrew Nembhard for Indiana is making a name for himself as an upper echelon role player, which a team like the Los Angeles Lakers could certainly use.
Notably, Nembhard hit a game-winner against L.A. in 2022 and has only continued to develop as a two-way guard since. To give the Pacers their credit, they scouted well and selected him in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft.
Indiana has now put together back-to-back impressive postseason runs, which headlined role players like Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith and T.J. McConnell. The Lakers ironically had their eyes on the former Gonzaga Bulldog, hoping he fell to them in 2022, via Jovan Buha of Buha’s Block:
“There is an alternate universe where he’s a Laker. Because one fun fact is that the pick the Lakers used Max Christie on, they were hoping Nembhard was going to slip, but he went 31st to Indiana.”
Thankfully, it is not like missing out on Nembhard truly came back to haunt the Lakers as Max Christie showed promise and developed into a starting-caliber player in his third season.
After not playing much his first two years, Christie earned a starting role for JJ Redick early in the 2024-25 season before he was eventually traded to the Dallas Mavericks as part of the blockbuster Luka Doncic deal. While losing Christie was tough, it’s a trade you make every time to acquire a player of Doncic’s caliber.
Regardless, Nembhard is farther along in his development as he is three years older than Christie and has already proven to be a high-level role player in the NBA, which is a credit to the Lakers scouting department for recognizing that even if they weren’t able to draft him.
Luka Doncic extension has led to increased willingness for Lakers to take back long-term money
A notion this offseason for the Lakers is that they want to keep their books clean until 2027 when stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic may become free agents. Whether it is rational or not remains to be seen, but L.A. secured a long-term agreement from Luka Doncic this summer and that may change their plans.
The Slovenian star wants to compete now and win a championship in the near future. With all their trade chips still intact, it appears the Lakers front office may have pivoted and appears to be more willing to take back long-term money now.
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