Lakers News: Top Clippers Free Agents For Their Crypto.com Arena Neighbors
Your Los Angeles Lakers may be without their two best players, All-Star small forward LeBron James and center Anthony Davis, tonight against the Los Angeles Clippers, in the final "Battle of LA" of the 2022-23 regular season.
On the Clippers side, the other LA club will be without All-Star forward Paul George, who remains sidelined with a right knee sprain, and could be missing reserve guard Eric Gordon and wing forward Marcus Morris.
Are there any Clippers worth considering for the Lakers in the 2023 offseason?
The Lakers only have Davis, James and rookie shooting guard Max Christie inked to guaranteed deals through the 2023-24 season. Everyone else is either a free agent or can become one with a team or player option. Thus, the Lakers could certainly be on the lookout for roster changes.
The Clippers only have two quality free agents who will be hitting the open market next season, and one is an all-too-familiar face.
Russell Westbrook, whom the Lakers traded at the February 9th deadline to totally improve and re-balance the franchise, inked a rest-of-season minimum deal with LA's other team. There's absolutely no way in hell he returns to the Lakers, nor should he. His weaknesses (shooting, late-game decision-making, defense) are more of an impediment to team success than his strengths, at this juncture of the future Hall of Famer's career.
Mason Plumlee is the other key Clippers rotation payer who will be hitting the open market, no strings attached, this summer. An above-average rim-rolling backup who moonlighted as a starter while with on bad Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets rosters in recent seasons, Plumlee has provided serviceable two-way minutes to the Clips in limited time. He could be worth a look at a bi-annual exception kind of deal for an LA team that may very well want to move on from Mo Bamba's $10.3 million player option for the 2023-24 season.
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