Lakers Considered Ideal Landing Spot For 24-Year-Old $13 Million Guard

The Los Angeles Lakers may consider making some changes in the offseason and experts say they may be landing a young guard.

Alex Kirschenbaum from Sports Illustrated believes that Phoenix Suns Josh Okogie is the right player to join the Lakers for the 2023-24 season.

“The defense-first small forward snuck into the Suns’ starting five, though many pundits (yours truly included) believed that Warren or Ross, not Okogie, would earn that starting gig alongside the other very starry starters — Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton,” Kirschenbaum wrote. “Still just 24, Okogie is about to get paid this summer, and he may just be too much for the Suns’ coffers. The team may also prefer to get a more proven scorer. The Lakers desperately need help on the wing defensively, and Okogie, capable of guarding point guard through small forward, gives them that in droves.”

Lakers could be landing the talented guard sooner than expected

Okogie will become unrestricted free agent next summer. He is a good candidate for Darvin Ham’s roster. The Suns guard averages 7.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists while going 39.4% from the field, 33.3% from beyond the arc, and 72.3% from the free-throw line.

Will the Suns let Okogie go? According to Dan Favale from Bleacher Report, the Suns have yet to decide if they want to keep Okogie around.

“Most of the incumbent free agents who matter can easily stick,” Favale wrote on April 1. “Phoenix has Early Bird rights on Bismack Biyombo, Torrey Craig and Jock Landale. Damion Lee is a non-Bird free agent but hasn’t played well enough to get more than the minimum. T.J. Warren recently entered the rotation, but he’s in pretty much the same boat. Okogie poses a bigger dilemma. He has packed his usual amount of defensive punch but provided additional value as an offensive rebounder and is shooting 37 percent from deep, on reasonable volume, since the middle of January. With only his non-Bird rights, the Suns must tap into part or all of their mini mid-level exception to keep him.”