The Los Angeles Lakers were supposedly one of the biggest winners coming into the start of the 2023 season but after a sloppy 9-7 start, it may be time to rethink some of their moves.
After making a Western Conference Finals run last season in one of the wildest mid-season turnarounds, the Lakers were going into the offseason with a lot of players becoming free agents. For the most part, they re-signed everyone that played a crucial role in that team like D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, and Jarred Vanderbilt.
For some of the role players that had left, the Lakers had thought that they found the perfect replacements. After starting the season 9-7 with a road record of 2-5, they may be questioning some of their decisions.
Here are three offseason moves the Lakers may regret.
3. Signing Anthony Davis long term
In the beginning of the offseason, Anthony Davis was due for a contract extension which the Lakers gave him for three years and $186 million up through 2028. Considering what Davis has accomplished and his immense talent, he is well deserving of that contract.
This may be something that the Lakers may regret because the first is that Davis is signed through 2028 and LeBron James has a player option for next season and that's it. With the uncertainty of how the rest of LeBron's career pans out, the Lakers are relying on Davis to be the guy moving forward.
The Lakers may already assume they cannot count on him to be the guy consistently. Even though he is in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation, Davis has been extremely inconsistent on offense. In Davis' last eight games, there were five times he scored less than 20 points and twice he scored 10 or less.
For someone who is a Top 75 player of all time in their prime, and renowned as one of the best players in the NBA, there should be no doubt in the back of anyone's mind that there is a chance he doesn't show up.
With the current state of the Lakers, the oldest player in the NBA shouldn't be their best player. The player who is 6-foot-10 with a 7-foot-6 wingspan should be the best player on the court for most of the game. Then as the game winds down, that's when Davis can take a back seat to LeBron if need be.
Since the Lakers superstar center is always disappointing instead of always dominant, they may be regretting giving him a $186 million contract extension. It is still a long season ahead and Anthony can be the player we know he is consistently.
2. Taurean Prince
No matter what team LeBron James has been on, the role players on his team were three-point shooters and defenders. That was exactly what the Lakers were going for this offseason and Taurean Prince has been one of those players.
When the Lakers first signed him it was graded as a very good move. Throughout Prince's career before playing with the Lakers, he was a career 37.2 percent three-point shooter. He was coming off one of his most efficient seasons with the Timberwolves shooting a career-high 46.7 percent from the field, 38.1 percent from three, and 84.4 percent from the free throw line.
Those are the numbers he has put up for most of his career and to start the season Prince was shooting 45 percent from three in the Lakers' first three games. Since then, his three-point shooting has been at 19 percent over his last 11 games and now 27.4 percent on the year. To go along with his career-low three-point shooting, his field goal percentage of 40 and free throw percent of 75 are also career lows.
To look at this in a more positive light, Prince is still providing good defense which isn't making him unplayable but his shooting has been awful this year. With James on your team, the front office would have no problem moving you if you aren't playing well.
With the forward having the least efficient season of his whole career, the Lakers may be regretting signing him to the team in the offseason. Prince is still capable of turning it around and playing well down before the Lakers consider moving on from him.
1. Gabe Vincent
Last season, Dennis Schroder was one of the few players the Lakers could consistently count on. He averaged 12.1 points, 4.5 assists, at the time career-best 85.7 percent free throw shooting, and played solid defense. He was in the closing lineup for the Lakers at the end of games.
In the offseason he signed with the Toronto Raptors where he is having a great year averaging 16.9 points, 6.6 assists, and .455/.357/.868 shooting splits.
The Lakers replacement for Schroder is Gabe Vincent, who is a good three-point shooter and defender. So far this season, Vincent has been injured and played in just their first four games. In those games, he's averaging six points, three assists, and 1.5 steals but shooting 39.3 percent from the field and 7.1 percent from three.
Those numbers are a bit skewed because it's through four games but seeing how much better Schroder has been playing this year than Vincent may cause the Lakers to regret their offseason decision.
There was a player that the Lakers had, who has been reliable and playing well all season while their replacement player for him has not been reliable and in the games that he has played, he has not played well at all. The season is still young for Vincent and he can turn it around when he comes back but for the time being, this is one decision the Lakers regret.
