10 trades and free-agent signings the Lakers would like a do-over on
Lakers do-over No. 8: Signing Jodie Meeks, 2012
In the summer of 2012, the Los Angeles Lakers were completely remaking their team to chase more titles in the twilight of Kobe Bryant’s career. They made a pair of big trades that are yet to show up on this list, and they added shooting guard Jodie Meeks to be the spacing threat to help it all work.
Well, it didn’t work, for Meeks or for the Lakers. He shot just 38.7 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from 3-point range, averaging 7.9 points per game. The supposed juggernaut Lakers went 45-37, went through three head coaches and were swept in the first round of the NBA Playoffs by the San Antonio Spurs. Meeks shot 1-for-4 in the first game and was a healthy scratch the rest of the way.
Meeks had a better second season the following year as a starter, but it was on a lottery team playing for very little as Kobe was out most of the season due to injury. When it mattered Meeks had little to offer.
Lakers do-over No. 7: Ivica Zubac trade, 2019
Ivica Zubac is currently the starting center on the LA Clippers, ranked first in the league by some defensive metrics, and on an imminently affordable contract. Some fans watching him anchor the Clippers’ defense may not realize that he began his career across the arena in the other locker room.
The Lakers drafted Zubac in the second round of the 2016 NBA Draft, and three years later they were trying to make a push for the eighth seed in LeBron James’ first season with the team. They inexplicably decided to jettison Zubac to the willing Clippers in exchange for Mike Muscala, who averaged 5.9 points per game for the Lakers in 17 appearances.
The trade looked really bad at the time, and it looks even worse right now. Keeping Zubac would have meant locking down the center position throughout the last four seasons, while instead, the Lakers have had a rotating cast of journeymen. They traded Zubac away for nothing, missed the playoffs anyway, and if they seemed capable of properly evaluating their own decisions would have been regretting it ever since.