Lakers named one of ‘best fits’ for coveted $51 million sharpshooter originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Los Angeles Lakers could have a transformative offseason.
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LeBron James’ pending free agent decision may well condition everything for the Lakers, whose roster could undergo a series of changes as Rob Pelinka and JJ Redick try to build the optimal team for franchise player Luka Doncic.
That includes lob threats and 3-and-D wings who will elevate the Lakers in a Western Conference ruled by two titans in the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs.
MORE: LeBron James delaying decision leaves Lakers in tricky salary cap situation heading into offseason
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One player ESPN has named a fit in Los Angeles is Ayo Dosunmu, who helped transform the Minnesota Timberwolves following a midseason trade out of Chicago. ESPN projects that Dosunmu will sign for three years and $51 million — a flat $17 million per year.
Dosunmu is one of the most attractive free agents on the market due to his cost and his shooting (41.4 percent in 24 games with Minnesota). The 26-year-old guard can sign for up to three years and $52.4 million if he extends with the Timberwolves before June 30, and Minnesota has no intention of letting him leave.
“Ayo’s our most important free agent,” Minnesota’s president of basketball operations Tim Connelly told The Minnesota Star Tribune recently. “He’s a guy we thought we knew pretty well, and we liked him from afar. Now seeing him day to day, we love him. I think he fits in not just on the court but off the court. I think his best basketball is in front of him.”
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Still, if Dosunmu can’t get a deal done in Minnesota, teams like the Lakers — who could lose the league’s leading 3-point shooter, Luke Kennard, in free agency — will be all over Dosunmu, an electric scorer off the bench who would be a seamless fit spacing the floor next to Doncic.
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