The Los Angeles Lakers made an interesting move on Sunday, signing veteran Marcus Smart. However, because of the Lakers' decision, they've had to move on from a few players, and there were a few other moves they were considering.
Prior to waiving Jordan Goodwin, Anthony Irwin of Clutch Points reported that the Lakers were looking to move on from Dalton Knecht and possibly a former Dallas Mavericks player, Maxi Kleber.
"The Lakers have a couple of paths they can head down. One, the Lakers would prefer to complete some type of a consolidation trade, where they send out an expiring contract and Dalton Knecht, and they bring in a player that they are more confident will help them this year and continue on without having to waive Jordan Goodwin,” he said.
Kleber has been a decent player throughout his NBA career, but he isn’t someone the Lakers need to keep around.
For the Lakers to add Smart, it would’ve made sense if they were trying to move somebody like Kleber in a different deal.
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Ultimately, Smart is a much better player, so that's something the Lakers had to factor in.
Clearly, it doesn’t seem like any team wanted him, or the Lakers just went with a different route, but it wouldn't be surprising to see them make another move to try to get off of Kleber’s contract.
As it stands right now, unless everything goes as well as it possibly could, Los Angeles isn't a contender in the Western Conference.
The Mavericks appear to be a better team, but much of that will depend on the injuries the team is currently dealing with. If they can get Kyrie Irving healthy and Anthony Davis plays all year, Dallas should be in a better position to win than Los Angeles.