Los Angeles Lakers: Assessing the impact of Andrew Bogut’s signing

Final Thoughts

After weighing up what Andrew Bogut brings to the Los Angeles Lakers, I’d consider it an intelligent signing that improves the team across the board. I love watching him play, and he will fit in seamlessly under his former coach who understands how he plays. Having him set ball and off-ball screens and facilitate the offense from the top of the key as a seven-footer is impressive.

His passing will lead to easy baskets on backdoor cuts, which allows a team to run a free-flowing offense that creates space for everybody. Playing him with Lonzo Ball is a perfect pick-and-roll with both capable of finding the open teammate and making the smart play. On the other end, Bogut helps the weaker defenders on his team by giving them some leeway for mistakes knowing he’s lurking in the paint.

I suspect coach Walton will find minutes for Ivica Zubac, but he’s still only 21 and needs to improve physically to take the next step in his game. Bogut has credited a diet change for prolonging and improving his career, so there’s plenty Zubac can learn from spending a year playing behind a NBA champion.

Next: Complete 2017 NBA offseason grades for all 30 teams

The beauty of Bogut’s deal is the single season commitment on the veteran’s minimum. If Bogut looks great off the bench, that contract could be flipped into a second round pick with no harm done to the cap future. Andrew Bogut is another piece to add to a Los Angeles Lakers season that will be filled with excitement and buzz.