The defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers start NBA free agency with a bang, reportedly agreeing to a deal with free agent Wesley Matthews, per Stadium's Shams Charania. The deal is for one year and $3.6 million.

It appears Matthews is excited about landing with the Purple & Gold:

Matthews spent last season with the Milwaukee Bucks, where he wasn't able to bring in much production. Through 67 games, the Marquette University product put up 7.4 points while shooting a 36 percent clip from deep, a far cry from his usual numbers in previous seasons.

The Bucks were thought of to not be in the market to bring back Matthews given their priorities that needed addressing coming into the offseason. They recently traded for Jrue Holiday, which made them favored to go in a different direction than that of the supporting cast of last season. Milwaukee is in the process of trying to convince reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to sign the super-max extension they're expected to offer on Friday.

For Matthews, he joins the Lakers as a prototypical 3-and-D player that can fill a void off the bench that'll be left in the absence of Danny Green. With Kentavious Caldwell-Pope rumored to be gauging his interest on the market as well, the Lakers elected to bring Matthews in as a surefire marksman for an excellent price.

–

Follow ClutchPoints on Twitter & Instagram, and like us on Facebook. We can also be found on Flipboard where you can subscribe and follow us.

RECOMMENDED (Article Continues Below)
Michael Porter Jr. saying "the brooms are coming" with purple devil emoji

Joshua Valdez ·

Denver Nuggets' Aaron Gordon smiling. LeBron James and D'Angelo Russell looking disappointed.

Andrew Meyers ·

Lakers' D'Angelo Russell, Stephen A. Smith breathing fire on Russell

Alex House ·

All of our NBA content can be found on the NBA section of the ClutchPoints home page here. For all of our college basketball content, click here.

Follow NBA games live by downloading the ClutchPoints App and heading to the scores tab under the NBA section.

You can listen and subscribe to the Battle for LA podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Soundcloud. You can also find new episodes of Battle for LA, the ClutchPoints NBA Podcast, and Establish the Pass under the Podcast tab on the ClutchPoints home page.