Under-the-Radar Free-Agent Options for LA Lakers to Pursue This Offseason

Summer after summer the NBA world is fixated on blockbuster free agents potentially swapping teams in the offseason, lured by bait such as max contracts, weather, market size, lack of state taxes and global icon-ability (Hi, LeBron).

The Los Angeles Lakers will be, as usual, in the thick of the drama revolving around this year's biggest free agent catch, Dwight Howard.

Yet whether or not the Lakers lock up the All-Star center to a long-term deal, L.A. remains way over the salary cap, meaning they have no money to throw at big-name free agents while attempting to re-tool the roster this offseason.

Time for the Lakers to go bargain hunting!

Last summer the Los Angeles Clippers signed the hugely productive Matt Barnes for the veterans' minimum.

Carlos Delfino went unsigned for nearly two months before agreeing to a short, cheap contract with the Houston Rockets that's not even fully guaranteed in the second and final year of the deal.

Heck, Kenyon Martin was sitting out there for the taking until after the All-Star break before finding a home with the New York Knicks. Now he's playing meaningful minutes for them in the playoffs.

The point is there are valuable free agents who slip through the cracks and deliver huge bang for the buck every year. Here are several the Lakers should target this offseason.

 

Anthony Morrow

Kyle Korver and JJ Redick will get most of the coverage this summer as the elite shooters available on the market, but Anthony Morrow may be just as good in that department.



Morrow is a career 42 percent shooter from three and led the NBA in three-point accuracy as a rookie in 2008-09.

Strangely, Morrow barely saw any action this year, appearing in just 41 games and averaging fewer 10 minutes per contest. 

He doesn't have much value other than as a long-range bomber who can spread the court, ...

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