After all, according to the NBA on ESPN, there isn't a top-24 player on the roster:
But the truth is, these Lakers are overstaffed at the moment. After waiving 2012 second-rounder Darius Johnson-Odom, L.A.'s roster still has one more name than the league's 15-man maximum permits.
At least one more player has to be cut, but as many as three could be on their way out.
Handicapping the field suggests there are some early front-runners for those final roster spots. But remember, this is Lala Land we're talking about. A place where literally anything can happen.
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Of the 16 names still in play, 11 of them are working on guaranteed deals. That doesn't actually guarantee them a roster spot, but it's hard to imagine the suddenly budget-conscious Lakers opting to pay a(nother) player to not suit up this season.
Here's a quick rundown of those 11 players, and how they'll fit into Mike D'Antoni's plan for 2013-14:
Those positions can and will change at times, but that's how everyone looks at their natural spots.
For those of you working without a Lakers media guide, these are the five names still pining for a full-time gig: Xavier Henry, Shawne Williams, Elias Harris, Ryan Kelly and Marcus Landry.
Two of the five have partial guarantees in their contracts, per Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times:
So what do those partial guarantees mean? In all likelihood, they ensure that the pair will at least stick around through the start of the regular season. Based on the differences in their resumes, that money roughly equates, per Pincus, to two to three weeks for Williams and about a month for Harris.
After that, one (or both) could come back on the chopping block.
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Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
