4. The Lakers should sign Monta Ellis, and drop an offer sheet on Houston's K.J. McDaniels
L.A. has gone from Showtime and Shaq to Swaggy P. This is not tenable.
The Lakers may not be able to pick the free agents they want any more, but they still should be able to sway an impact player or two with that most irresistible of sirens: minutes and shots. A guy like Ellis, who can get buckets in his sleep, should have the green light to fire away next season -- even if Bryant is back in the lineup. The two of them would be options 1 and 1A, depending on matchups.
At this stage of his career, coming off of injury, Bryant may be better suited to playing some small forward anyway, instead of chasing the Westbrooks and Hardens of the world around screens. Kobe is smart, tough and strong enough to handle the defensive assignment against most threes. There's no reason the Lakers couldn't play Russell, Ellis and Kobe together -- or Ellis and Kobe, if the Lakers want to bring Russell along slowly, and make Jordan Clarkson the third guard.
Ellis will surely look at the $9 million per the Hornets gave Lance Stephenson last summer, and the $8 million per that the Celtics gave Avery Bradley, and say he's significantly better than either offensively. (He wouldn't ask for Klay Thompson money ... would he?) And, compared with Stephenson and Bradley, he's right. And, Ellis is still just 29. He would be big fun a lot of nights, and allow Swaggy (aka Nick Young) to work in off the bench (which is where he should be, anyway).
The 22-year-old McDaniels, sent to the Rockets from Philly at the trade deadline, is worth dropping a sheet on. The former second-round pick of the 76ers last year famously rejected a long-term deal with Phily, opting to sign for one year and bet that he'd outperform the typical second-rounder's deal. After some ridiculous flights of athletic fancy in Philly (and not so many with the Rockets), he appears to be right. And the Lakers should gamble on him. McDaniels has legit two-way potential as a wing player.
The Lakers certainly have the cap room to sign McDaniels to the same kind of back-loaded offer sheet that the Rockets used to get Jeremy Lin from the Knicks and Omer Asik from the Bulls in 2012. The Rockets will be looking for that third leg of the triad to go with Harden and Dwight Howard, though, along with needing to re-sign Josh Smith. It's hard to see them being willing or able to match a sheet on McDaniels that came in at, say, $6 or $7 million annually.
No doubt, the Lakers would be betting on the come that McDaniels is worth it. But he could be a scary good 3-and-D guy down the road. You can't make an omelette without cracking a few eggs.
