Over the opening month of the 2024-25 NBA season, it looked like first-year head coach JJ Redick had the Los Angeles Lakers on the fast-track to contention in the loaded Western Conference. The once clunky offense was humming, Anthony Davis was dominating, and LeBron James was continuing to keep Father Time at bay. However, a 10-4 start to the season has since given way to a 3-7 stretch that raises a question that has become all-too-familiar in Hollywood… what do the Lakers do now?
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As usual, the response to this question involves the Lakers front office deciding that it's time to shake things up with a roster that has been overturned countless times over the last half-decade. Whether that means trading for a big man (Jonas Valanciunas), a big-ish star (Zach LaVine) or a handful of possible rotation pieces (Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith), I have no idea, but right now, it seems as if all options could be on the table.
However, the Lakers could decide against doing anything that would be deemed drastic, and instead go the route of signing a free agent who could provide an instant boost to LA's rotation. In fact, ClutchPoints' Anthony Irwin recently reported that the Lakers have been weighing the idea of adding Markelle Fultz.
“Per sources, the Lakers have had internal conversations about Fultz, the former first-overall pick who hasn't lived up to his draft position but was solid last season playing for the Orlando Magic,” Irwin writes.
Markelle Fultz played only 33 games in Philadelphia after the 76ers selected him with the 1st overall pick in 2017 NBA Draft, but since then, he's proven to be a serviceable rotation guard in 201 games with the Orlando Magic. During his five seasons with Orlando, Fultz has averaged 11.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game in just 26 minutes of action a night. He would immediately step in as the best defender in LA's backcourt, which has been an area of concern all season long.
It should go without saying though that a hypothetical addition of Fultz doesn't necessarily move the needle drastically in the opposite direction and propel LA back into the upper-echelon of title contenders. With that said, it would potentially be a step in the right direction for a team that has been taken multiple steps backwards over the last three weeks.
