Los Angeles Lakers
After winning the franchise’s 17th championship last season, the Lakers entered this season with championship aspirations once again and looked to have an even better team on paper with the additions of Dennis Schroder and Montrezl Harrell. At full strength, this team definitely has a chance to win the Western Conference once again, but LeBron James and Anthony Davis are currently out due to injuries.
Recently signed big man Andre Drummond is also currently out due to a foot injury and will likely miss a couple of games as well. Injuries have definitely played a major factor in the Lakers struggles to this point, but all-in-all at full strength, they will have a chance to become the 12th team to win back-to-back titles.
Whether or not they win another championship this season or not, the pending free agency of Dennis Schroder is definitely a storyline in Los Angeles. Schroder is leaning towards testing out the NBA free agency market and seeing what he is worth before committing to the Lakers long-term. As a result, Los Angeles could look elsewhere when NBA free agency begins and Jrue Holiday would be at the top of their list.
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They have had a lot of interest in Holiday over the years and with the Lakers being one of the top defensive teams in the league, Jrue Holiday would fit right in with how they play. Not to mention, he would be a great complementary guard and overall better option to put next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis than Dennis Schroder.
The only thing about potentially going after Jrue Holiday is that it would cost the Lakers a ton of money. If Schroder was to walk away, the Lakers would have a little bit of relief financially, but they would still need to free up $10-15M in cap space, which would likely result in them losing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma or Montrezl Harrell.
If the Lakers really want Jrue Holiday, they can make this possible, but it would cost them quite a bit tax wise and roster wise, which is why this may not be the best move for them. However, if Schroder does leave L.A. in NBA free agency, they will be searching for another high level guard to replace him, which will be something to monitor in NBA rumors.
