Lakers News: Why 2 Key Los Angeles Free Agents May Both Return

LA may bring back two exciting playoff pieces.

Your Los Angeles Lakers have free agent decisions to make regarding most of their roster. Only LeBron James, Anthony Davis, second-year guard Max Christie and veteran power forward Jarred Vanderbilt are on fully guaranteed deals as of this writing. Christie isn't part of the club's rotation but he may eventually be.

In a comprehensive new breakdown of all 30 NBA teams' offseason needs, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report reveals that Los Angeles may be amenable to at least holding onto two unrestricted free agent backcourt players who showed out in a big way during the team's somewhat unexpected run to the Western Conference Finals as a 43-39 seventh seed: reserve point guard Dennis Schröder and backup shooting guard Lonnie Walker IV.

By the end of the playoffs (which may have been too little, too late), Schröder had replaced D'Angelo Russell as LA's starting point guard, thanks primarily to his stout on-ball defense, solid passing ability and basic confidence. The Nuggets had been targeting Russell defensively throughout the Western Conference Finals, rendering him virtually unplayable. Walker perhaps saved LA's second round series against the Golden State Warriors with some clutch bucket-getting, after kicking off the postseason out of LA's lineup completely.

Both deserve raises, but will Los Angeles be the team to give those to them? LA holds the Non-Bird Rights to Walker, who inked a one-year, $6.5 million deal with the Lakers last summer. The team could sign him to a new deal worth $7.8 million (120% of his previous salary), even if it's already over the cap. Schröder's value is a more interesting case, as he inked a $2.6 million "prove it" deal and, well, he totally proved it. He could probably net something in the range of a $5 million taxpayer's mid-level exception, if not a bit more, which would go a bit beyond his 120% Non-Bird Rights pay bump.

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