The Lakers “have given some inside consideration” to signing free agent ahead Maurice Harkless to deal with their lack of wing depth, as Marc Stein writes at Substack.
Based on Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (Twitter link), the Lakers hosted Harkless for a exercise and assembly this week.
Harkless was traded thrice in the course of the offseason. The primary deal noticed him head from Sacramento to Atlanta as a part of the Kevin Huerter deal, then he was dealt to the Thunder in a cost-cutting transfer that put the Hawks beneath the posh tax, and eventually he was a part of the eight-player commerce between Houston and Oklahoma Metropolis.
The Rockets ended up waiving Harkless because of a roster crunch — they’d too many gamers beneath assured customary contracts and loads of depth at ahead.
A ten-year veteran, Harkless has performed for the Magic, Path Blazers, Clippers, Knicks, Warmth and Kings since being chosen with the fifteenth general decide in 2012. Often called a strong, switchable defender, Harkless maintain profession averages of 6.9 PPG, 3.5 RPG and 0.9 SPG on .474/.320/.624 capturing in 621 common season video games (371 begins, 22.6 MPG).
As Stein famous in his article, whereas Harkless does present some measurement (6’7″, 220 kilos) and flexibility (he’s able to dealing with both ahead spot), his 32% profession mark from three-point vary isn’t very best for a Lakers crew that has struggled to transform outdoors pictures within the early going. Nonetheless, he gives playoff expertise, toughness and is just 29 years outdated, so it’s not like he’s nearing the tip of his basketball profession like so lots of the veterans on final season’s roster have been.
If the Lakers do find yourself signing Harkless, they’d must waive a participant on the 15-man roster as a result of it’s presently full. Wenyen Gabriel and Matt Ryan, each of whom are taking part in on non-guaranteed offers, could be the gamers most definitely to be reduce in that state of affairs (Ryan has averaged quarter-hour per night time throughout the primary two video games and is likely one of the few shooters on the roster, so his spot is perhaps safer than Gabriel’s).