The Los Angeles Lakers were quiet on the first night of free agency, but then made one splash after another on Wednesday. Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and Collin Sexton are all headed to the Lakers, but not everyone is all too impressed by their acquisitions.
LeBron James’ former Cleveland Cavaliers teammates Channing Frye, Iman Shumpert, and Richard Jefferson spoke about the Lakers’ additions on the Road Trippin’ Show.
“When Luka [Doncic] went to the NBA Finals with the Dallas Mavericks, every one of those players right there would be coming off the bench for that Mavericks team,” Jefferson said. “So, that gives you context of where the Lakers are. None of those players would be starters on that Dallas Mavericks Luka Finals team.
“Collin Sexton would come off the bench,” Jefferson said. “Quentin Grimes would. Even Walker Kessler would not start over [Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II]… That shows you kind of how, I won’t say far away they are, but where they are.”
Shumpert believes the Lakers are far away. Frye, meanwhile, doesn’t believe these free agency moves are all too impactful.
“They don’t address anything that the Lakers actually need other than bodies,” Frye said. “They need athleticism, grit, grind… Walker Kessler is not better than Donovan Clingan.”
Safe to say that Jefferson and Frye aren’t anywhere near as high on Kessler as the Lakers are. They landed the 24-year-0ld from the Utah Jazz for two unprotected first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps.
That’s valuable draft capital, and the Lakers also gave Kessler a four-year, $130 million contract in this sign-and-trade deal. They clearly see him as a big part of the puzzle, but these three former NBA players don’t think he changes much.
Shumpert then wildly claimed these aren’t players who you’d think of as Lakers.
“You know what’s bothering me?” Shumpert said. “I thought this was the Lakers. Where is the personalities?… This is going to be a boring a** team, though.”
Frye called them the Los Angeles Utahs. He then added, “This team’s GPA is definitely going to win.” The suggestion, of course, is that they’re too White. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith has also questioned the Lakers’ decision to have their three best players all be White.
Of course, all that matters at the end of the day is whether you win or not. That’s what these Lakers will be judged on, too. They aren’t among the title favorites for next season as things stand, but they should be a pretty good team, with Kessler, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves leading the way.
Having James would have made the Lakers better, but he chose to end that partnership after eight seasons. His agent, Rich Paul, shared that complete happiness is what he is looking for, and for whatever reason, he wasn’t going to get that if he stayed. It will be interesting to see where James chooses to go in his pursuit of happiness.
