The Lakers “have given some internal consideration” to signing free agent forward Maurice Harkless to address their lack of wing depth, as Marc Stein writes at Substack.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (Twitter link), the Lakers hosted Harkless for a workout and meeting this week.
Harkless was traded three times during the offseason. The first deal saw him head from Sacramento to Atlanta as part of the Kevin Huerter deal, then he was dealt to the Thunder in a cost-cutting move that put the Hawks under the luxury tax, and finally he was part of the eight-player trade between Houston and Oklahoma City.
The Rockets ended up waiving Harkless due to a roster crunch — they had too many players on guaranteed standard contracts and plenty of depth at forward.
A 10-year veteran, Harkless has played for the Magic, Trail Blazers, Clippers, Knicks, Heat and Kings since being selected with the 15th overall pick in 2012. Known as a solid, switchable defender, Harkless hold career averages of 6.9 PPG, 3.5 RPG and 0.9 SPG on .474/.320/.624 shooting in 621 regular season games (371 starts, 22.6 MPG).
As Stein noted in his article, while Harkless does provide some size (6’7″, 220 pounds) and versatility (he’s capable of handling either forward spot), his 32% career mark from three-point range isn’t ideal for a Lakers team that has struggled to convert outside shots in the early going. Still, he provides playoff experience, toughness and is only 29 years old, so it’s not as if he’s nearing the end of his basketball career like so many of the veterans on last season’s roster were.
If the Lakers do end up signing Harkless, they’d have to waive a player on the 15-man roster because it’s currently full. Wenyen Gabriel and Matt Ryan, both of whom are playing on non-guaranteed deals, would be the players most likely to be cut in that scenario (Ryan has averaged 15 minutes per night across the first two games and is one of the few shooters on the roster, so his spot might be safer than Gabriel’s).
Westbrook is suffering bc Ham plans to bench him
You just don’t make MVP suffering
Start with sacrifice and end with suffering
Mo Harkless …….. LAKERS be scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Mo Harkless is literally 1-12 vs GSW in the playoffs, including getting cooked by just Dray+Klay and scrubs one series lmao
Yeah with Lillard and McCollum
After all, Westbrook is not the problem at all
The problem is Lakers don’t have world class bench
Westbrook has the ball all the time
Westbrook contract is disaster
The Lakers biggest problem is not Russell Westbrook. The Lakers have NO shooting. The other issue is that LeBron is still their best player at 38 years old. The plan was ALWAYS to have Anthony Davis become the “best” player. Ant is no longer a Top 10 player in the league. Ant is no longer one of the most feared defensive players in the league.
Wenyan Gabriel’s play has been so sub-par they didn’t even use him against the clippers wings. He can’t shoot, fouls to much, clumsy and not particularly basketball smart. He hustles and that’s about it. He belongs in the G-league.
Harkless may not provide the shooting they need but it certainly won’t be any worse than Gabriel, he’s more experienced, 6’7’ and better in most if not all other areas. It’s a minor upgrade, but an upgrade nonetheless and lakers need any and all upgrades they can get.
Harkless is a better and more versatile defender than Gabriel and he has the edge in playoffs experience. He has been to the western conference finals and he was also solid during his stint with the Clippers back in 2020.
Problem solved
Harkless is a good pick up. He’s smart, plays defense and is a good rebounder. They could do worse.
Everyone always acts like the guys on the end of the bench are supposed to be all stars which just shows ignorance.
Harkless wasn’t going to be out of a job for long.
I’ve been a Laker fan since 72, this is a storied franchise that has been in disarray since the Dr passed. The Lakers are going no where fast. Get rid of Davis, Westbrook and the front office.
He’s better than a number of their bench players already. But the Lakers have other problems as we know even with their stars. Davis can’t seem to get boards anymore and Bron has turned into a jump shooter. Beverly can’t hit a 3 and Russ should just be sent home
Can’t shoot, but he can defend a little. He’d be a body to help you get through some regular season games, but that’s about it.
That’ll turn the season around
He’s a better defender than lebron