Los Angeles Lakers: 5 offseason roster moves they must make

2. Bring back Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

Another one of the championship Lakers who has decided to opt-out of his deal is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. He was due just shy of $8.5 million but believes that he is going to be able to sign a deal worth more than that thanks to being a member of a championship team.

He averaged 9.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 0.8 steals in 25.5 minutes per game. His shooting efficiency made Caldwell-Pope a very important role player for the Lakers. His shooting splits were .467/.385/.775 which are extremely solid for the seven-year veteran.

Caldwell-Pope has been with the Laker for three seasons and his production has gone down every year. While this may be seen as a problem, Caldwell-Pope numbers have dipped when James came to the team then when Davis came a year later.

His defense is also very important to this team. While the Lakers have an incredible interior defense with McGee, Howard, and Davis.What they are lacking in perimeter stoppers. Caldwell-Pope often takes the best opposition guard and stopping them.

Considering the NBA is becoming even more perimeter dominated, this could mean the difference between going back to back or being eliminated in the first round. If the Lakers cannot retain Caldwell-Pope, they will need to entice Justin Holiday or his ilk to the team.