Recently, the Los Angeles Lakers made a free-agency splash by signing guard Marcus Smart, who had been bought out by the Washington Wizards, as reported by Shams Charania of ESPN. The move gives the Lakers the point-of-attack defender that they so desperately needed to help out a backcourt of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.

Despite this move, the Lakers may not be done adding to their backcourt depth just yet. Recently, ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel reported on the Lakers' current cap situation and another name they could reportedly have interest in.

“The Lakers now have 14 players under contract for the 2025-26 season and are just over $1 million from the first-apron tax line. While the Lakers could pursue other veterans still available in free agency with their final roster spot, they would first need to free up space to do so,” reported Siegel.

“(Malcolm) Brogdon, a player Los Angeles expressed trade interest in before the 2025 NBA trade deadline, remains on their radar should the team free up extra funds in a small consolidation trade.”

Brogdon won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award with the Boston Celtics in 2022-23 and has since spent time with the Portland Trail Blazers and Washington Wizards alongside Smart.

A busy week for the Lakers

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Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) moves the ball against the Houston Rockets during the first half at Crypto.com Arena.
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By signing Smart, the Lakers added a recent Defensive Player of the Year award winner and a player who has improved his three-point shot dramatically over the course of his career.

At this point, it's unclear whether head coach JJ Redick will look to insert Smart into the starting lineup ahead of Reaves in order to give the Lakers more defensive stability or if it will be Smart coming off the bench.

Another option could be to start Smart alongside Doncic and Reaves, slide LeBron James to the power forward spot and move Rui Hachimura to the bench.

Whatever option they choose, the Lakers are undeniably a more balanced team now that Smart is on the roster, and the team-friendly nature of the deal makes it so that his well-documented injury history won't be too much of a risk.

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