This NBA offseason has been full of rumors surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers as they have been seeking out ways to upgrade their roster. In free agency, they took a different approach this year than they did last year.
Last year, they signed older veterans to round out the roster around their star trio of LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook. It was a risk acquiring Westbrook but the roster was poorly built around those three as well. They lacked versatility and depth and a lot of the players struggled to stay healthy.
That is something they hoped to remedy this offseason. They did a total 180 when it came to roster management, signing Lonnie Walker IV, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damian Jones, Thomas Bryant and Troy Brown Jr. Toscano-Anderson is the oldest of the bunch at 29 years old as all of them also bring some two-way ability to the table.
The Lakers have also made one trade, acquiring Patrick Beverley from the Utah Jazz. Beverley was acquired from the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of the Rudy Gobert blockbuster trade, but the Jazz had little use for the veteran. So, they flipped him for more assets, acquiring Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson from Los Angeles.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Bojan Bogdanovic, Utah Jazz & Los Angeles Lakers Updates
Needing to make more moves to upgrade the roster, could the Jazz and Lakers come together on another trade? Los Angeles has been linked to a few of the other veterans still on Utah’s roster, one of whom is Bojan Bogdanovic. The Lakers should most definitely push for a trade that results in them acquiring him.
This is a roster that is void of reliable, consistent 3-point shooters. If they are going to have any success this upcoming season, especially if Westbrook is still part of the plans, they need to find as many shooters as possible.
Bogdanovic would certainly fill that need. He had an excellent offensive rating of 116.2 last season and is an excellent 3-point shooter. For his career, he has knocked down 39.2 percent of his attempts. With the Jazz, that number is at 39.7 percent on pretty high volume, making 2.7 out of his 6.8 attempts per game.
During his three seasons in Utah, Bogdanovic has also averaged 18.4 points per game. He is the perfect complement to the three stars as someone that can take pressure off of them by creating some offense himself off the dribble.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Bojan Bogdanovic, Utah Jazz & Los Angeles Lakers Updates
Given his size, Bogdanovic would also enable the Lakers to play Davis at the center spot. Lineups with him playing the five-spot have led to the most success but they didn’t have the personnel to make it work last season. Bringing in a player of Bogdanovic’s caliber would certainly enable Darvin Ham to do that.
Bogdanovic does leave something to be desired defensively, as the Jazz defensive rating was 106.4 with him off the court compared to 111.4 with him on the court. But the positive impact that he would provide offensively should offset that enough for him to remain a plus player.
Another positive to pursuing Bogdanovic is he likely wouldn’t be coming to the team alone. Los Angeles could also add Mike Conley Jr. or Jordan Clarkson to the mix along with him, further lengthening and improving their roster in the process.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Bojan Bogdanovic, Utah Jazz & Los Angeles Lakers Updates
A healthy James and Davis should be more than enough to buoy the Lakers, but they need to continue upgrading the role players around them. Bogdanovic would be a nice upgrade and brings plenty of playoff experience to the table as well.
