Nicolas Batum and Hassan Whiteside (Photo : Getty Images)
The Los Angeles Lakers may already have an idea of who to pursue in this summer's free agency.
Harrison Faigen of SB Nation's Silver Screen & Roll has the perfect idea for the Lakers to scout upcoming free agents who could fit well in the team's needs at the wing and center position.
According to Faigen, with the playoffs in full swing, the Lakers will have a clear picture of who they should chase in the market, and the Charlotte Hornets-Miami Heat first round series could be LA's "Home Shopping Network" for top-talented free agents.
"While Nicolas Batum's injury makes the series slightly less compelling, he and Heat center Hassan Whiteside are both free agents that would seamlessly fill the Lakers' holes in the middle and on the wing," Faigen wrote.
The Lakers have a huge hole to fill at the small forward position, having been without a talented wing for the past few years. In the 2015-2016 regular season, the Lakers only had Metta World Peace, Anthony Brown and Nick Young to man the three spot, all of whom did not make much of an impact to the team's campaign.
Batum, who is playing the final year of his four-year $46.1 million deal, could be the best acquisition for the Lakers at the SF spot, with the Frenchman being a "supplementary scorer and ace defender," skills that lack most if not all in LA's roster. Moreover, the 27-year-old Batum can score and play even without the ball in his hands, which suits well in the Lakers' isolation-heavy offense.
On the other hand, Whiteside seems the ideal player the Lakers should recruit to fill the center spot, with Roy Hibbert also set to hit free agency this summer.
Aside from Hibbert, the Lakers only true center is Robert Sacre, and may have Julius Randle and Tarik Black to take the five spot if they play small ball. But none of these players can anchor the interior defense like Whiteside has been doing in his breakout season.
Whiteside's shot-blocking prowess will be essential for the Lakers, who ranked 24th this season in blocks per game (4.1), according to TeamRankings Sports Prediction and Data. The Lakers are also second from the last in Opponents Points in Paint per game, allowing 47.7 points of their averaged allowed points of 106.9, making Whiteside and Batum potentially on top of LA's free agency list.
The Lakers have a massive salary cap space heading into free agency, with a war chest of $62.6 million to offer one or two max contracts in July. Whether Batum and Whiteside pick the Lakers' remain to be seen, but LA is in pole position to spend big and lure top free agents like the aforementioned players.
