The Los Angeles Lakers entered the 2021-22 season as one of the favorites to hang a banner. They combined two future Hall-of-Famers, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, with three more surefire Hall-of-Famers in Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwight Howard. The Purple and Gold surrounded their big names with perimeter shooters, Malik Monk, Wayne Ellington, and Kent Bazemore. They stole Miami’s two-year starting point guard, Kendrick Nunn, for the mid-level exception and brought in more size with former All-Star DeAndre Jordan.
- LeBron James
- Anthony Davis
- Russell Westbrook
- Malik Monk
- Kendrick Nunn
- Talen Horton-Tucker
- Carmelo Anthony
- Dwight Howard
- Avery Bradley
- Wayne Ellington
- Kent Bazemore
- D. J. Augustin
- Austin Reaves
- Stanley Johnson
- Wenyen Gabriel
- Head Coach
- The Lakers 2022 Offseason Will Be The Most Interesting Story Of The Summer
- Next
- The Blockbuster Trade That Could Happen This Summer: Russell Westbrook To Charlotte Hornets, Gordon Hayward And Kelly Oubre Jr To Los Angeles Lakers
- The 10 Most Disappointing NBA Teams Of All Time
- 5 Moves The Los Angeles Lakers Can Take This Summer To Become Title Contenders For The 2022-23 Season
- 5 Important Reasons Why The Los Angeles Lakers’ Season Went Wrong
- Dwight Howard Is A First Ballot Hall Of Famer: NBA Champion, 3x Defensive Player Of The Year, 8x All-NBA Team, 8x NBA All-Star
On paper, the Lakers had it all. Then the season began, and the roster spiraled out of control into a whirling death spiral. LeBron James and Anthony Davis suffered numerous injuries, each missing significant court time. Russell Westbrook was a disaster, a player who covered his inefficiencies by leaning into his least effective on-court attributes, and after games, he doubled down on his problems, crossing his arms like a four-year-old and informing the media he didn’t care about the Lakers struggles. Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard tried, but as the cliché says, “You can’t beat Father Time.” Kendrick Nunn missed the entire season with a bone bruise, and the Lakers’ stable of role players struggled to play two-way basketball throughout the year.
The Los Angeles Lakers concluded the season as one of the most disappointing teams in NBA history with a 33-49 record and predictably made head coach Frank Vogel their scapegoat two seasons after he brought a title to LA in 2020.
The Los Angeles Lakers enter the 2022 offseason with the eyes of the NBA world upon them. They could blow up the roster and plunge into a full-rebuild, keep their Big-3 together another season, or retool around LBJ and AD.
Below we’ll show the status of every Lakers player heading into the 2022-23 season and what Lakers management will most likely do with each member of their roster.
LeBron James
Entering Final Season Of 2-Year Max Contract ($44.5 Million)
A small faction of Lakers fans want to see GM Rob Pelinka trade LeBron James over the summer. Their reasoning is simple: LBJ will enter the last year of his contract next season with no assurance he’ll re-up with the Lakers. He’s also very old (for the NBA) 37 years of age, coming off an MVP-caliber season with high trade value. The Lakers could bring in a nice haul for their future Hall-of-Famer over the summer in a mini-rebuild.
LeBron James is eligible for a 2-year, $97M extension this summer, which means he could be in LA until 2025.
LBJ is getting up there in years, but he has shown no sign of slowing down. He reportedly loves living in LA, and his family is reluctant to move again, nearly ensuring he’ll retire in LA unless things go sideways again next season.
James averaged 30.3 PPG, 8.2 RPG, and 6.2 APG in 2021-22, with Brodie and his 29.8% hit rate from deep crushing his spacing on the court. LeBron James is still one of the premier players in the NBA, and the Lakers should look to extend him, keeping him in LA for the foreseeable future.
Anthony Davis
Entering 3rd Year Of 5-Year Max Contract ($38.0 Million)
Anthony Davis finds himself in a similar situation as LeBron James among a minority of Lakers fans who want to see Purple and Gold management trade him. Some Lakers’ diehards are tired of AD’s constant injury woes and believe after he won the title in 2020, he lost the fire to compete at 110% nightly.
Anthony Davis was available for less than half the season. But can he be blamed for suffering a sprained MCL after LeBron James pushed an opposing player into his knee? Or can Lakers fans condemn AD for spraining his ankle after landing on Rudy Gobert’s shoe after going up for a rebound?
AD was the victim of bad luck in 2021-22. Nothing more. While Davis was on the court, he was a top-15 player, averaging 23.2 PPG, 9.9 RPG, 3.1 APG, 1.2 SPG, and 2.3 BPG while playing some of the most effective multi-level defense in the NBA.
Davis will begin the third year of his five-year contract next season at a reasonable $38 million. The Lakers would be foolish to trade away their star big man when he’s in the middle of his prime, and he proved only two years ago that he and LeBron are more than capable of bringing home a title.
Russell Westbrook
Player Option For 2022-23 ($47.0 Million)
Russell Westbrook’s struggles in 2021-22 have been well documented. He was the league’s least efficient high-volume three-point shooter, led the NBA in total turnovers, and played slow and disinterested point-of-attack defense. Brodie also bristled at Frank Vogel’s offensive ethos, insisting on taking the ball up the court and initiating the offense. The Lakers coaching staff continuously asked Westbrook to set screens, cut to the basket, and do the little things it takes to win basketball games, and he responded by ignoring them and doing what he wanted.
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka would probably give his left pinkie finger for Westbrook to opt out of his 2022-23 player option, but there’s less than 0% chance Brodie will leave close to $50 million on the table to escape LA. At the same time, after Westbrook’s historically poor season, Pelinka can’t run it back without the entire Purple and Gold fanbase going on strike.
The Lakers could stretch Westbrook’s contract out over three seasons, removing their disgruntled point guard from the equation, but that move would hamstring the Lakers with $15 million in dead money until 2025, making it very unlikely. Pelinka will have to trade Westbrook. Recent reports claim the Hornets could be interested in swapping Gordon Hayward and Kelly Oubre Jr. for Westbrook in a cap-clearing move, or the Pacers could also strike a deal with the Lakers for Brodie, centered around Malcolm Brogdon. An agreement with Charlotte or Indiana would be a minor miracle for the Lakers, giving them a reboot for next season, but either deal is far from certain.
We can guarantee that Russell Westbrook won’t be in Purple and Gold next season, even if the Lakers have to send out their 2027 first-round pick to Houston for John Wall.
Malik Monk
Unrestricted Free Agent
Malik Monk signed a one-year, $1.7 million contract with the Lakers on a prove-it deal. And prove he did. Monk was one of the most reliable players on the Purple and Gold roster throughout 2021-22. Monk provided a nice inside-out punch from the guard position, hitting 72.5% at the rim and 39.1% from deep while playing 28.1 minutes per contest. Malik Monk also flashed solid playmaking skills, using a better-than-advertised first step and the threat of a deep bomb to blow by defenders. Once Monk got into the lane, he featured an excellent toolbox of finishing moves, and he was capable of hitting his teammates with precision passes when two opposing players converged on him.
The Lakers would love to sign Monk again next year. However, the most recent reports claim he’s valued around the league at over $7 million per year, a figure the Purple and Gold won’t be able to match.
Kendrick Nunn
Player Option For 2022-23 ($5.3 Million)
Kendrick Nunn sat out the entire 2021-22 season with a bone bruise in his knee that wouldn’t seem to heal. After missing the year, Nunn will reportedly opt into his player option for next year in an attempt to rebuild his value.
The Lakers should be ecstatic Nunn wants to stay in LA next season. He’s an excellent modern point guard who thrives at the rim, connecting on 75.5% of his attempts from 0 to 3 feet throughout 2020-21, and also excels from deep (38.1 3P% the previous year).
Nunn averaged 14.6 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 2.6 AP, 0.9 SPG, and 0.3 BPG as the Miami Heat’s starting point guard last season, flourishing next to Jimmy Butler, a playmaking forward similar to LeBron. Kendrick Nunn is a top-20 NBA point guard, and he’ll be a boon for the Purple and Gold next year.
Talen Horton-Tucker
Entering 2nd Year Of 3-Year Contract ($10.3 Million)
Talen Horton-Tucker was one of the most disappointing players in the NBA last season.
He shot 26.9% from deep and only 61.3% at the rim. THT ended the season with a 102 Offensive Rating, 114 Defensive Rating, and a -3.3 Box Plus/Minus. Horton-Tucker played 1,511 total minutes in 2021-22 and was worth only 1.1 Win Shares.
DeAndre Jordan played 408 slow and confusing minutes for the Lakers, and he amassed 1.3 Win Shares, 0.2 more than THT.
It’s safe to say the Lakers regret their three-year, $30 million contract with Talen Horton-Tucker. GM Rob Pelinka would love to trade THT for a role player who can shoot from deep and play passable perimeter defense, but that seems impossible.
The Purple and Gold will have to hope THT, 21, hits the lab over the summer, practicing eight hours a day, and comes back next season more mature, capable of playing solid two-way basketball.
Carmelo Anthony
Unrestricted Free Agent
Carmelo Anthony came to the Lakers in 2021-22 on a one-year, $2.5 million contract, and he’ll enter the offseason as an unrestricted free agent. Anthony, nearly 38, averaged 13.3 PPG while connecting on 37.5% of his attempts for the Purple and Gold this season. He supplied floor-spacing for a Lakers squad that was dying for three-point shooting. Still, he’s well past his prime, struggled to contain his assignments on the less fun end, and was a ball-stopper on offense, averaging only 1.0 assists nightly.
The Lakers’ experiment with a team full of wizened veterans failed. The Purple and Gold need to add youth over the summer, and it would be a shock to see Carmelo Anthony back in LA next season.
Dwight Howard
Unrestricted Free Agent
Dwight Howard also signed with the Lakers on a one-year, $2.5 million deal over the summer. Howard averaged 6.2 PPG and 5.9 RPG while playing 16.2 minutes per contest. Superman did what he could for Frank Vogel and the Lakers, but at 36-years-old he found it hard to cover space in the middle of the court, especially struggling in pick and roll coverage, and he was a disaster on the perimeter, fodder for guards and wings out by the arc.
Like the Lakers’ other one-year minimum veterans, Dwight Howard will have no place on the Lakers next season, especially with younger centers, Hassan Whiteside, Dewayne Dedmon, and Bismack Biyombo coming off minimum deals, providing better low-cost options for the Lakers in 2022-23.
Avery Bradley
Unrestricted Free Agent
Avery Bradley signed the same veteran’s minimum contract as Carmelo Anthony, inking a one-year, $2.5 million deal after the Lakers learned point guard Kendrick Nunn would be sidelined to start the season. Bradley, known as a defensive stopper, allowed his assignments to shoot 7.5% over their typical average throughout the season and was one of the major reasons the Lakers struggled to stop opposing players from getting into the lane.
The Lakers will almost certainly look elsewhere for perimeter defense over the offseason, and Avery Bradley could find it challenging to land a contract with another team.
Wayne Ellington
Unrestricted Free Agent
Wayne Ellington is one of four Lakers players on a one-year, $2.5 million deal. Ellington, 34, is the NBA’s quintessential one-way player, an excellent three-point shooting guard who has a -0.9 Defensive Box Plus/Minus for his career. The Lakers brought in Ellington over the summer knowing who he was while also understanding head coach Frank Vogel was a defensive guru who favors lockdown wings over offensive-first shooters. Ellington played his part, shooting 38.9% from deep while offering soft and slow defense. Vogel predictably scoffed at Ellington, giving him 810 total minutes across 43 games.
Wayne Ellington, 34, is probably too old and too one-dimensional to be in the Lakers’ plans moving forward and, similar to Avery Bradley, could find it hard to land with another team next season.
Kent Bazemore
Unrestricted Free Agent
In what most experts saw as a steal, Kent Bazemore signed on with the Lakers over the summer on a one-year, $2.4 million deal. The 32-year-old power forward was seen as a capable starting two-way wing heading into the season, capable of defending the opposing team’s leading perimeter option while connecting at a high clip from deep. Bazemore began the year in the Lakers’ starting five, but from the first game looked two steps too slow on the less fun end. Vogel promptly removed him as a starter, and then he found himself outside the rotation entirely.
The Lakers will not offer Bazemore a contract for next season, and like Howard, Ellington, Bradley, and Anthony, he might find himself outside of the league.
D. J. Augustin
Unrestricted Free Agent
D. J. Augustin joined the Lakers after the All-Star break and gave the Purple and Gold a nice offensive boost off the bench. He connected on 45.3% of 4.1 triples per game and delivered reliable playmaking in a minor role.
Augustin was an asset for the Lakers off the bench, and they could (and probably should) ink the 34-year-old point guard to a one-year, minimum contract for next season as an end of the rotation insurance player.
Austin Reaves
Team Option For 2022-23 ($1.5 Million)
Austin Reaves joined the Lakers as an undrafted rookie. He immediately ingratiated himself to head coach Frank Vogel and the rest of the team with his 120% hustle on defense and his willingness to do the little things some of his more veteran teammates scoffed at. Reaves supplied youth and energy the entire season for a Lakers squad that was bent over and walking around the league with a cane. If Austin Reaves hits the gym over the summer, adding 10-pounds of muscle, he could become the second coming of Alex Caruso for the Purple and Gold.
The Lakers handed Reaves a two-year deal with a team option for next season, and he’s a near guarantee to be back on the team in 2022-23.
Stanley Johnson
Team Option For 2022-23 ($2.4 Million)
Former lottery pick, Stanley Johnson, joined the Lakers halfway through the season after falling out of the league. Johnson, 25, gave the Purple and Gold a defensive spark, playing as if his NBA life depended on his nightly hustle while flashing a sophisticated sense of when to cut and drive to the hoop. Johnson proved to be an excellent defender, and if he improves upon his 31.4% clip from deep throughout 2021-22, he could become one of the best 3-and-D wings in the league.
Like Austin Reaves, the Lakers inked Stanley Johnson to a two-year deal with a team option mid-season and will almost certainly bring him back next season.
Wenyen Gabriel
Team Option For 2022-23 ($1.9 Million)
Wenyen Gabriel suited up for 19 games with the Lakers after the All-Star break. The 24-year-old former G-League player played hard-nosed defense throughout his time on the court, demonstrating he could guard all five positions, ending the year with an excellent 45.9% Defensive Field Goal Percentage. Gabriel offered little on offense, but his ability on the less fun end should be enough for the Lakers to pick up their 2022-23 team option on him.
Head Coach
Lakers Management Will Undergo A Thorough Search In The Offseason
The Lakers fired head coach Frank Vogel on Monday just two years after he guided them to the title during the 2020 bubble. Frank Vogel’s rotations throughout the year were a mess, and he reportedly lost the team’s respect. Still, he was set up to fail with one of the worst rosters in the league.
Lakers management will conduct a thorough head coach selection process during the offseason, with Raptors Nick Nurse at the top of their wish list. Quin Snyder, Juwan Howard, Doc Rivers, and Phil Handy have also been linked to the Purple and Gold. Nurse, Snyder, Howard, and Rivers are currently employed, and it’s unclear if they are looking for a move to the west coast, muddying the Lakers forecast for next season.
The Lakers 2022 Offseason Will Be The Most Interesting Story Of The Summer
The Lakers began their overhaul on Monday by firing championship head coach Frank Vogel. What moves will come next?
Russell Westbrook is almost certainly gone. The Lakers will work the phones like a telemarketer who’s late on his rent for a trade that can land them quality players for the 2022-23 season. LeBron James and Anthony Davis will, in all likelihood, be back, despite the best-laid plans of some of the Lakers’ biggest fans. Kendrick Nunn looks like he’ll be back to provide the Lakers with quality point guard play next season. The Lakers contingent of minimum contract vets, C. Anthony, A. Bradley, W. Ellington, D. Howard, and K. Bazemore will probably find themselves outside of the team looking in, and Monk has probably priced himself out of a return to the Purple and Gold. Finally, the Lakers would be wise to bring back Austin Reaves, Stanley Johnson, Wenyen Gabriel, and D. J. Augustin.
