Lakers News: Insider Sees Restricted Free Agent Forward As Interesting Prospect For LA

Another young wing to LA in search of a new role?

The Los Angeles Lakers' front office is set to be burning the midnight oil for these nest few weeks to months now that the 2023 season has officially come to an end and we are about 15 days away from the beginning of free agency.

I hope that LA takes note of some recent success stories within their franchise and keeps an eye out for promising, young players that haven't exactly panned out with the same team that drafted them. Lonnie Walker IV became a Laker after the San Antonio Spurs wanted to go in a different direction and the season before that, Malik Monk made way to Hollywood due to the Charlotte Hornets barely utilizing him.

Even if these guys do not stick around long-term, both parties know that they have a lot to gain from this situation. LA gets some much-needed youth energy and the player in question gets to perform in a huge market and show that they can play winning basketball. Therefore, the Lakers have a lot to ponder this summer but The Athletic's Jovan Buha recently pinpointed yet another Hornets player who is set to hit restricted free agency that could fit nicely with the purple & gold: P.J. Washington.

P.J. Washington scored 22 of his career-high 43 POINTS in the 4th quarter!

He's averaging 30.7 PTS, 8 REB, 4 AST (53% FG) during the Hornets 3-game win streakpic.twitter.com/0eaqfuoV6X

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) March 29, 2023

Even though the Hornets had yet another mediocre season and finished with a 27-55 record that landed them in 14th place, Washington put together his best campaign yet. The 24-year-old forward averaged a career-high 15.7 points on 35% from the three-point line.

He was definitely one of their more versatile players and even other scoring forwards shared the floor with him such as Kelly Oubre and Gordon Hayward, he was able to play and defend the post with comfort. 

Washington got minutes in the post during his time at the University of Kentucky so he had prior experience.

#12 PJ Washington - Kentucky to Charlotte

Pin down for Tyler Herro and duck-in on the left block for right hand/left shoulder in the post pic.twitter.com/BlQ60mhf0d

— Jordan Sperber (@hoopvision68) June 21, 2019

Therefore, Buha thinks Washington could be a potential target for the Lakers to use their MLE on and utilize as a center in some small-ball experiments next season among other names.

"In addition to the aforementioned bigs, some additional bigs that aren’t traditional fives could include

P.J. Washington

(restricted),

Grant Williams

(restricted),

Jeff Green

and

Georges Niang

. Washington and Williams would likely cost all or most of the non-taxpayer midlevel exception, triggering the hard cap. Each big could play the five in super-small lineups."

(Via The Athletic)

Washington is certainly no stranger to playing on the biggest stage so perhaps a deal could be worked out and he could hit the floor with some of the best players in the league down the road.

Are you following us on Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube yet? Join the conversation as we discuss the latest Lakers news and rumors with fans like you!